A comparative analysis of the impacts and resilience of the electricity supply industry against COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom, Malawi, and Uganda

In response to COVID-19, most countries implemented mitigative and suppressive measures to stem its spread. This study analysed their impacts on the operations, investments, and policies within the electricity supply industry (ESI) for the United Kingdom, Malawi, and Uganda. It further assessed ESI’s resilience capacities (prevention, absorption, adaptation, recovery, and transformation) and ultimately quantified resilience using SDG 7 targets. The study observed that in 2020, the UK had 143 days of lockdowns compared to 74 for Uganda and none for Malawi. The UK’s annual demand fell by 4.8% while Uganda and Malawi’s increased by 0.5% and 2.8%, respectively. During lockdowns, the UK lost 28% of its demand compared to 5.5% for Malawi and 24% for Uganda. It took the UK 8 months to recover its demand, which was correspondingly twice and four times longer than Uganda and Malawi. The degeneration in the level of system operations in the UK did not significantly affect electricity access and reliability contrary to Uganda and Malawi, whose impacts on their development commitments could span for years. This study underscores the necessity of evaluating resilience with respect to local development commitments. Moreover, several measures were proposed to enhance resilience mainly through actions meant to ensure business continuity.