GAS TO DOUBLE SUPPLY OF POWER BY 2016: TANESCO

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania aims to double its power production to 3,000 megawatts by 2016 at a cost of around $1.21 billion to meet rising demand by using its vast natural gas supplies; Reuters reported yesterday quoting an official with the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco).

Decklan Mhaiki, deputy managing director for investments at  the state-run Tanesco said the country’s installed capacity stood at 1,500 megawatts (MW), against a peak power demand of 900 MW. The full installed capacity is however rarely available due to power plant outages and drought, the news agencies published.

Mhaiki said demand for electricity was growing at a rate of 8 to 10 per cent per year.

A gas-powered plant located near the commercial capital Dar es Salaam would start producing 150 MW by the end of this year, he said, adding that the total cost of the additional power supply would be funded by private investors and public funds.

“So it’s also a challenge for us to make sure we increase generation capacity,” Mhaiki told Reuters on the sidelines of an east African power conference.

“We are taking advantage of gas to be able to bring more affordable power in the short term, and gas plants are quick to build. So all of the 1,500 megawatts will be gas-fired except for only 50 megawatts that will come from wind.”

At present 24 per cent of the 45 million population in East Africa’s second-largest economy is connected to the power grid, and this would rise to 30 per cent by 2016, Mr Mhaiki said.

The Citizen