9th October 2015 Drought Killing Hydropower in Tanzania - A Need for Gas

Great Ruaha River is completely dry for three months at a stretch

Photograph: Thomas Kruchem

At the time of this Telegraph article Tanzania was shutting down all of its hydropower plants because drought was causing low water levels in its dams, sending the country deep into an electricity crisis.

The country at the time was reliant on water to produce more than a third of its power.

The hydro plants struggle to operate in monsoon or poor rain fall conditions and they had to shut down production to protect the machinery from damage being caused from air getting into the system.

The country at the time was consuming 870 MW of electricity but during the drought was only generating 105 MW, leaving millions battling power cuts.

Gas generators were gradually being brought on stream to ease the crisis but demand will increase over the coming years as Tanzania goes forward with its plans to hook its population up to the grid. At the time, less than a quarter of families had electricity in their homes.

Full article Telegraph