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FORWARD
University
Under review

Master of Science in Energy Transition and Sustainable Power

The people who will decide how Uganda and the region generate, price and regulate electricity over the next thirty years are mostly already in post and mostly trained in a single discipline. This programme is built for them: systems level e...

MScHybrid18 months (3 semesters)Intake August 202790 credit units

Employment thesis

What this programme is designed to produce

Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.

Roles

  • Energy planner
  • regulatory analyst
  • utility strategy lead
  • independent power producer developer
  • energy economist
  • climate and energy finance specialist
  • ministry adviser.

Employer types

  • Utilities and regulators
  • ministries and planning authorities
  • development finance institutions
  • independent power producers
  • consultancies
  • and international energy institutions.

Target outcomes we hold ourselves to

  • Senior technical and policy positions with immediate application in post and strong donor and development finance demand.

Compulsory · The Forward Core

How the Core works →

Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.

  • AI Fluency
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Ethics and African Context
  • Human-Advantage Skills
  • Enterprise

Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning

Read the co-op commitment

Am I eligible?

Check yourself against the published requirements

7 questions written specifically for Master of Science in Energy Transition and Sustainable Power. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.

Question 1 of 70%

What is the highest qualification you hold?

Requirement tested: A completed bachelor's degree in a cognate field, or a recognised equivalent with professional experience.

Curriculum structure

The same degree, in both pathways

Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.

Path One term plan shown

Path One · The Term Model

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 1Year 1
30 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 501
Applied Intelligence for Professionals
Both
42-2-0
FDC 502
Research Evidence and Method
Both
42-2-0
ECE 510
Energy Systems Modelling and Capacity Expansion
Performance
63-2-4
ECE 511
Power System Operation and Renewable Integration
Both
64-2-2
ECE 512
Energy Economics and Markets
Both
53-2-2
ECE 513
Energy Policy, Regulation and Institutions
Both
53-2-2
TERM 2 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 2Year 1
29 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 503
Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems
Both
42-2-0
ECE 520
Energy Project Finance and Structuring
Both
64-2-2
ECE 521
Storage, Flexibility and Demand Side
Performanc
63-2-4
ECE 522
Energy Access, Equity and Productive Use
Both
53-2-2
ECE 523
Transition Pathways: Hydrogen, Gas and Electrified Transport
Both
53-2-2
ECE 524
Advanced Elective
Objective
32-2-0
TERM 3 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 3:Year 2
30 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
ECE 530
Major Project: National or Utility Scale Energy Study (client verified)
Performance
200-2-38
ECE 531
Data and Analytics for Energy Decision Making
Performance
52-2-4
ECE 532
Professional Practice and Policy Communication
Objective
54-2-0

Total credit units: 89

Curriculum source

Forward University Curriculum Compendium

Assessment

Coursework + project + integrated exam

Work-integrated learning

12 months paid co-operative education

Your week at Forward

A typical week on Master of Science in Energy Transition and Sustainable Power

Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Mandatory live session Flexible bite-sized lesson Optional event

Curriculum explorer

Drill into the degree, step by step

Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.

Step 1, choose a year

Step 2, choose a term

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY SEMESTER 1

Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU

Cumulative

30

Programme total

90

30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)

Step 3, choose a course

Pick a course to see the detail

Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.

The twelve Forward capabilities

What this programme develops in you

Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.

  • C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent

Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.

Programme Learning Outcomes

What you will be able to do

Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.

  1. PLO 1Build and interpret capacity expansion and dispatch models for a national system.
  2. PLO 2Design tariff, subsidy and regulatory instruments and assess their distributional effects.
  3. PLO 3Structure and appraise energy projects and their financing.
  4. PLO 4Plan the integration of variable renewables and storage on a weak grid.
  5. PLO 5Assess transition pathways including hydrocarbons hydrogen and electrification of transport.
  6. PLO 6Advise decision makers with defensible, uncertainty aware analysis.

Why this programme exists

The people who will decide how Uganda and the region generate, price and regulate electricity over the next thirty years are mostly already in post and mostly trained in a single discipline. This programme is built for them: systems level e...

Admission requirements

A Bachelor's degree of at least Second Class Lower Division in engineering, economics, physical sciences or a cognate discipline; professional experience in the energy sector is an advantage and may substitute under recognition of prior learning. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.

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