Total power shutdown begins in Juba on Tuesday

South Sudan’s capital Juba is set to go back to darkness.

This comes after Juba Electricity Distribution Company (JEDCO) said on Monday that it has been informed by the Ezra Construction & Development Group that because of a lack of foreign currency and commitment from other stakeholders, the power plant producing electricity for Juba City is in a critical state and cannot supply power.

“JEDCO management will start shedding power from 6 April 2021 until a complete power shut down. We are now forced to start partially shedding from the Juba distribution network until further notice. The affected areas will be informed by 6 April 2021.” Reads part of the statement put in JEDCO facebook page.

South Sudan launched its first electricity grid and power distribution system in November 2019.

That was the first time the city started having electricity. The government and other private institutions were prior to the launch using their own generators.

President Salva Kiir said war was over and the focus from then on would be on development to deliver services to people.

“To my follow citizens, today marks the beginning of the new era: No more war. This is the time of development and services delivery to people,” Kiir said, while commissioning the plant.

He said electricity would eradicate pollution that comes with large scale use of diesel in the environment, and assured the country that the government would focus on developing hydroelectric power and the renewable energy sector.

“This project will spur development in the country where more than 70% of lighting relies on generators and others on kerosene,” Kiir said.

The Ezra Group from Eritrea has invested as much as $289 million in a power plant is to provide 100 megawatts for Juba.

In January this year Ezra said it would stop supplying power to the national grid due to a lack of hard currency it needed for operations.

The Ezra Construction and Development Group runs the power plant on a build, own, operate and transfer basis.

Citing its power purchase agreement signed with the government, the company said in January that the Ministry of Energy “is contractually obliged to allocate foreign currency” to Juba Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. (JEDCO), a distribution company which then pays the Ezra Group in hard currency for supplying bulk energy.

At that time, it didn’t halt power supply after reaching an agreement with the government.