Following WBA's visit to Uganda last year, this White Paper examines the current state of the country's bioenergy sector, relevant policies, and current uses of bioenergy. It covers Uganda's energy system, and the central role biomass plays within it, as well as the opportunities for modern bioenergy technologies to deliver power and heat, in a context where the energy transition is intrinsically linked to broader development challenges.
Executive Summary
Reaching energy access and clean energy sources for cooking and power are still major challenges for Uganda and have been recognized by the government as a priority to achieve socio-economic development.
Even though Uganda has made progress in power generation and energy capacity in the last decade, the country continues to have one of the lowest electrification and clean cooking rates in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, only 3.8% of Uganda’s has access to clean cooking fuels, while only a quarter of the population is connected to the grid for electricity.
More than 92% of the population relies on wood fuel and charcoal for cooking. With a growing population and the highest rate of refugee population in Africa, Uganda is faced with an energy and development crisis that affects health, reinforces gender inequality, and drives environmental degradation.
With major dependence on highly inefficient fuels like woodfire or charcoal, biomass is essential in the country's energy mix. The availability of agricultural residues and organic waste in the country creates a great potential for modern bioenergy technologies to become a timely solution for Uganda’s energy challenges.
The recognition of energy as a foundational enabler of socioeconomic development has been translated into actions in policy frameworks like Vision 2040 and its National Development Plans. As part of these pledges, access to clean cooking fuels has also been imperative, prioritized in national plans like the National Energy Policy 20203, and the recently announced National Integrated Clean Cooking Strategy.
This white paper assesses how bioenergy can support clean cooking and energy access in households, public institutions, and humanitarian settings in Uganda, drawing on data, policy review, and selected case examples.
The analysis shows that the continued dependence on traditional biomass for cooking is primarily driven by gaps in efficiency, affordability, and delivery of modern alternatives. Modern bioenergy solutions, such as improved biomass cookstoves, ethanol, or biogas, are already emerging across the country, but at a slow rate. Recent policy developments are starting to signal a stronger commitment to clean cooking with growing private sector engagement. However, implementation remains uneven and constrained by limited financing mechanisms, weak coordination, and affordability barriers for end-users.