PIPELINE READY TO TRANSPORT GAS TO DAR ES SALAAM, SAY OFFICIALS

The entire pipeline has a capacity of 784 MMBTU, which will be raised to 1,002 MMSCFD in future.

The Tanzanian government has announced that it will begin using the new 517km pipeline to transport natural gas from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam in January.

The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has submitted to the Energy Water Regulatory Authority (Ewura) a proposal to charge $4.178 as the tariff for a million metric British thermal units (MMBTU) of gas.

TPDC wants Ewura to grant regulatory approval for the fee applicable to consumers in power generation, industrial use, vehicles, households and institutions from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. TPDC is finalising the construction of two plants at Madimba in Mtwara and Songo Songo Island in Lindi region with a gas pipeline from Mtwara through Somanga Fungu to Dar es Salaam.

“The planned commercial operations start date is January 15, 2015,” said TPDC director of marketing and investments Joyce Kisamo. She added that an appropriate tariff is the only option to help service loans and recover capital costs.

The $1.2 billion Mtwara-Dar es Salaam pipeline was begun in July 2012, with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China meeting 95 per cent of the cost. The China Petroleum and Technology Development Company was awarded the contract to construct the pipeline.

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The Madimba village plant has two processing units, each with a capacity of 70 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of gas and the Songo Songo Island plant has two units of 70 MMSCFD.

The entire pipeline has a capacity of 784 MMBTU, which will be raised to 1,002 MMSCFD in future.

The East African