Bunge team faults Govt on electricity By Paul Dotto, Hale
The Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Minerals has advised the Government to immediately find an alternative electricity generation source and do away with dependence on unpredictable hydropower.
The suggestion was made after the committee toured the Hale hydroelectricity station on Friday. Power generation at the facility has been temporarily suspended, pending repair of turbines which malfunctioned last month.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Daniel Nsanzugwanko (Kasulu-CCM), said it was high time the Government stopped dealing with power issues on an emergency basis.
"We should make use of alternative resources instead of solely depending on water for generating electricity," he said.
Mr Nsanzugwanko said the Government should give priority to abundant natural gas, which could easily be used to generate electricity in a relatively short time compared to implementation of hydro electric projects.
Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) general manager (generation) Stephen Mabada said the firm was intent on diversifying power generation, adding that the stumbling block was implementation.
"The Government should continue supporting our (Tanesco) resolve to bring in new machines that do not necessarily need water to produce electricity," he said.
Earlier, Hale power station manager Justinian Lugeiyamu told the committee and Energy and Minerals deputy minister Adam Malima that power generation at the station was suspended after one of the turbines malfunctioned last month. He said repairs were scheduled to be completed this month after which generation would resume.
"After ones of the machines collapsed some time ago, we remained with only one operational turbine which also stopped working last month. We hope to begin producing 12MW of electricity soon," he said.
For his part, Mr Malima said there was a shortfall of 120MW on the national grid, adding that this had forced Tanesco to ration electricity.
The deputy minister said the Kihansi hydropower plant and Songas gas-fired plant would begin producing 60MW and 20MW, respectively, after completion of maintenance work this month.
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