Uganda, March 15 -- The 183-megawatt Isimba hydroelectric dam, located between Kayunga and Kamuli districts, is set to be shut down later in the year to enable the contractor fix technical and structural defects.

The temporary closure, the second within two years, is planned for August-September pending the full onboarding onto the national grid of the 600-megawatts Karuma hydro-dam power, multiple sources said.

China International Water and Electric Corporation (CIWE) built the Isimba plant at $570m (Shs2.2trillion), most of it being loan from China's Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, and the power facility was commissioned in the run up to the 2021 polls.

However, the emerging catalogue of engineering and operational flaws have raised quest...