Norway to end South Sudan capital's dark nights with power plant
By Ulf Laessing
JUBA | Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:49am EDT
Aug 30 (Reuters) - Norway will help South Sudan build a hydropower plant
with work expected to start early next year, diplomats said, raising hopes
of ending an era of dark nights at least in the capital.
Devastated by decades of civil war with Khartoum, South Sudan has no power
grid. Electricity is only for the rich who can afford diesel generators at
their villas in the capital, Juba, or business travellers in the city's
expensive hotels.
The government has made more than $10 billion in oil revenues since a 2005
peace deal with Khartoum, but corruption and inexperience have hampered
development since independence in 2011.
Juba also has no sewage system. Running water in residential buildings and
offices comes unfiltered from the Nile, delivered by an army of trucks.
To kickstart development, Norway will partly fund and oversee construction
of a 42-megawatt dam on the White Nile, providing enough electricity at
least for Juba.
Tenders will be awarded in autumn with work to start in early 2014 and end
in two years, Western diplomats said. The project will cost around $160
million, of which South Sudan is supposed to contribute a quarter.
With risk-averse Western firms largely shunning South Sudan due to its
inefficient legal system, bidders for the plant will likely come from Asia,
diplomats said. Chinese, Malaysian and Indian firms dominate the oil
industry in South Sudan.
(Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Dale Hudson)