Despite the current precarious situation in power supply, the government has vowed not allow the country plunge into darkness, President Jakaya Kikwete, said recently. In his monthly routine address to the nation, the president admitted to ever rising challenges in production and distribution of electricity in the country.
He said according to the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), the country lacked surplus power, saying wherever there was a minor breakdown in the production system it always led to load shedding. "The country consumes all that is generated. And still the demand far exceeds supply, with only 14 per cent of those who are in need having access to power," the president noted.
The major challenge, according to Tanesco, is the fact the national power demand is growing at around 10-15 per cent annually. This means it has to add 105 MW to its grid each year to meet rising demand, but faced with delays in building the new plants necessary to hit the target, it is hard to cope. Peak time demand stands at about 787 MW versus 595 MW that available on the grid.
According to government sources, about 1.5 billion US dollars (about 2trillion/-) is needed over the next five years to revamp its power sector, something that is apparently an uphill task in the wake of the global financial crisis. President Kikwete said in his monthly address to the nation last week, that the government has in place an elaborate long-term power generation plan that includes diverse strategies such as use of gas, coal, water and wind.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Mr Arthur Mwakapugi, was recently quoted as saying that among the projects due by 2015 are two natural-gas powered plants, two hydro dams and a wind-powered project. The projects are expected to add up to 1,178 megawatts (MW) to the national grid.
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