energy4everyone

‘Six regions face power rationing’

Reads the headline in today’s national newspaper. This comes as no surprise to either of us, after experiencing short power outages each one of our days in Dar. This also comes as no surprise to the Tanzanians (more specifically to 33% of Tanzanians – those with access to the national grid), it is a regular occurrence, quite often experienced daily. Most hotels, businesses, and middle to upper class homes have stand-by diesel generators – prepared an overwhelmed grid, worsened by the ‘hot season’ about to grip the country.

The electricity grid runs west, as well as in a V shape north, and only slightly south from Dar es Salaam – by no means covering even half the country. Tanesco, The Tanzania Electric Supply Company, has scheduled daily load shedding between 7am and 10:30pm to the V line that supplies the northern regions, inlcuding the mining towns around lake Victoria.  These towns are well populated, minerals being Tanzania’s largest export.

Tanesco has appealed to the government for funding for several heavy fuel generators, adding 60MW for northern coverage. Funding has also been requested to help bring on an additional 100MW natural gas plant in Dar, in the hopes to meet current demand. Natural Gas finds in the south have mostly been used for power generation, and minimally to supply small industrial sites in the capital city. From what we’ve heard, the government has similar plans in mind for the offshore NG finds, as building pipeline infrastructure is not at all feasible. Not feasible, and more desperately required for power generation if Tanesco is hoping to extend their lines and electrify new communities.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 10:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.