BY December this year, the ambitious Kinyerezi II power
project will be providing about 30 to 240 megawatts of electricity to the
national grid in attempts to further expand the country’s power generation
capacity.
The revelation was made over the weekend in Dar es Salaam by
the project manager Steven Manda, when he addressed the press on the progress
of the project.
He said every month, the Kinyerezi Phase II power plant
would have capacity to generate at least 30 megawatts, and at least 240MW upon
completion, all adding capacity to the national grid.
He said since its inauguration by President John Magufuli in
March last year and laying of a foundation stone on the same date, its progress
has risen to about 63 per cent, expressing confidence that it was at a better
stage.
The project worth about 344 million USD (approximately
722bn/-), is currently being built at the Kinyerezi area in Dar es Salaam.
During the laying of the foundation stone, President
Magufuli directed the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) to do
away with hiring electricity generating plants and instead, come up with
constructive ideas on how to set up their own power plant.
“Hired plants are very expensive.
They are a big burden to consumers who have to pay more to
compensate for the high capacity charges, which end up benefitting the
companies signing such contract(s) with TANESCO, like it was the case with
IPTL,” pointed out the president.
He directed that the country should come to a point where it
generates its own reliable power and sell surplus to other countries, just like
it is happening in other parts of the world.
“That capacity is here with us,” stressed Dr Magufuli and
further directed the then Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter
Muhongo, to work on the issue, and cautioned him to be watchful on ‘experts’
who would advise him to hire external power plants to address shortages in the
country.
Fielding questions from reports during the briefing, the
acting TANESCO Managing Director Dr Tito Mwinuka, said the completion of the
project would fall within the earlier agreed timeline.
He commended the government for disbursing its funds on time
for the implementation of the project, saying that also made their work to run
smooth.
During the tour, the journalists also had time to see
Kinyerezi Phase I, which is equally being boosted to increase an additional 185
megawatts to the national grid, apart from the earlier 150 megawatts which is
now completed.
Upon the completion of the additional initiative, it will
have the capacity to produce a total of 335 megawatts of electricity.
The completion of the two projects will help TANESCO to have
an ability to produce enough electricity in the country, as latter gears for
industrialisation of its economy