The organisation responsible for electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Tanzania is the Tanzania Electric Supply Company, known as TANESCO. The company is wholly government-owned and is responsible for 98 % of the country’s electricity supply.
The country’s power generation system encompasses the use of hydro, thermal and gas power. Hydropower contributes the most toTanzania’s electrical power generation.
Tanzania’s interconnected grid system has an installed capacity of 773MW, of which 71% is hydropower. The largest hydropower complexes are the Mtera and Kidatu Dams and they are situated on the Great Ruaha River. The Mtera Dam is the most important reservoir in the power system providing over-year storage capability. It also regulates the outflows to maintain the water level for the downstream Kidatu hydropower plant. Thermal generation in Tanzania currently relies on imported Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO); Jet A (aviation) fuel and diesel.
The installed capacity of the hydropower facilities are:
- the Kidatu power station, which has the capacity of 204 MW;
- the Kihansi power station, which has the capacity of 180 MW;
- the Mtera power station, which has the capacity 80 MW;
- the Pangani power station, which has the capacity of 68 MW;
- the Hale power station, which has the 21 MW; and
- Nyumba ya Mungu, which has the capacity of 8 MW
The total capacity of hydropower generation is 561 MW.
The installed capacity of the thermal power facilities are:
- the Tegeta power station, is privately owned and operated by Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL), possesses the capacity of 100 MW; and
- the Ubungo power station, has been owned by TANESCO, but, operated by Songas until privatization in June 2004, has the capacity of 112 MW
Tanzania also has around 30MW of thermal generation in isolated areas that are not connected to the grid.
Two private independent power projects (IPP’s) which are connected to Tanzania’s grid are IPTL (Independent Power Tanzania Ltd) with 100 MW installed capacity and SONGAS (Songo Songo gas project) which by the end of 2004 had 120 MW capacity, although more gas turbines would have been installed to increase the capacity to 200 MW before the end of year 2005. Tanzania also imports 10 MW of electric power for Kagera Region from Masaka substation in Uganda while Sumbawanga, Tunduma and Mbozi districts receive about 3 MW from neighbouring Zambia. Bulk supply of electricity is made to Zanzibar from Ras Kilomoni substation at the Indian Ocean coast in Dar es Salaam.
There are several diesel generating stations connected to the national grid in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Tabora, Dodoma, Musoma and Mbeya. These possess an installed capacity of 80 MW but they effectively contribute about 35 MW due to running problems. Some regions, districts and townships are dependent on isolated diesel - run generators (Kigoma, Mtwara, Lindi, Njombe, Mafia, Mpanda, Tunduru, Songea, Liwale, Ikwiriri, Masasi and Kilwa Masoko). These have installed capacity of 31 MW but they effectively contribute about 15 MW due to aged machinery and lack of spare parts.
The output from generation plants is transmitted and distributed to mainland Tanzania with the following transmission lines:
- 2,986 Kilometres of 220 kV transmission line
- 1,971 km of 132 kV lines
- 554 km of 66 kV lines
Majority of the population that receive electricity live in urban areas, and are concentrated in Dar es Salaam. The city consumes about 50 percent of power generated, while rural areas only receive a small portion of power. By the end of November, 2004 only 18 district headquarters were yet to receive electrical power, namely, Ngorongoro, Simanjiro, Ludewa, Biharamulo, Ngara, Serengeti, Kasulu, Kibondo, Urambo, Ukerewe, Utete, Namanyere, Bukombe, Uyui, Kilolo, Mbinga, Namtumbo and Kilindi.
Plans are underway to electrify Biharamulo, Ngara, Serengeti, Ukerewe, Urambo and Rufiji by 2005 while funds have already been secured for electrification of Bukombe, Kilindi and Simanjiro district headquarters before the end of 2006.
The country faces a major challenge of providing 90 percent of the remaining population access to electricity. This requires huge investments, hence the need for both international and local investors to participate in expanding the country’s power sector. As the country is becoming more and more focused on providing electrical power, the need for new capacity is increasing rapidly. By the end of 2004 the maximum demand was 510 MW and was expected to increase to 600 MW by the end of 2005 in the case of power sector expansions.
There are a number of projects that the country is pursuing in order to maximise its electrical power supply.
The Tanzania Emergency Power Supply Project was set up in 2004 in order to deal with prolonged, severe load-shedding due to an extended drought affecting Tanzania’s predominantly hydropower system, and the consequent negative economic impact and disruption of social services. It comprises funds that will cover the incremental power supply costs, attributable to the 2003 drought. Specifically, the International Development Association’s (IDA) financial contribution, would have covered the incremental costs of fuel for running the Ubungo Power Plant on Jet A1 fuel through July 2004, when the Plant would have been commissioned to operate on indigenous gas, and, the costs due to the purchase of electricity produced from the Independent Power Tanzania Ltd. (IPTL) Power Plant, operating on heavy fuel oil, through February 2005. Given the circumstances, the project will assist in avoiding severe load-shedding, and the consequent negative impact on the overall economy, and delivery of social services. The project will also help maintain the current momentum of the power sector reform program. It is expected to be completed by the end of July 2006.
The Songas project was initiated and completed in 2004, the same time that the Ubungo power plant was privatized. The facility is powered by domestic gas instead of Jet A fuel. The aim of the project was to convert local natural gas from Songo Songo Island to clean, reliable electric power. Upon its completion, it was estimated that Songas would supply 20% of Tanzania's current electricity demand, supplying power to Dar es Salaam and the Tanzanian national grid.
The project consists of a gas processing plant on Songo Songo Island; a 225 km/140 mile pipeline from the island to Dar es Salaam; and the 112 megawatt (MW) Ubungo power station in Dar es Salaam. The pipeline also supplies gas directly to industrial and commercial customers.
Tanzania has undertaken a rural and peri-urban electrification project in a move aimed at developing the country's rural access to electricity and information technology services. The project, Energising Rural Transformation (ERT) which has also been undertaken in Uganda under the World Bank is estimated to cost around US$80 million.
Other future projects have been set up, such as:
- Installation of (40 MW) gas turbine, and was expected to be completed in 2005.
- Conversion of IPTL diesel units to gas is expected to be completed by 2006.
- Zambia-Tanzania (200 MW) interconnector is expected to be completed by 2010.
- Ruhudji hydropower (35.8 MW) project is expected to be completed by 2012.
- Mchuchuma Coal fired plant (200 MW) is expected to be completed by 2018.
- Mchuchuma Coal fired plant (200 MW) is expected to be completed by 2023.
- Rumakali hydropower (222 MW) project is expected to be completed by 2024.
Tanzania is involved in various interconnection projects that help to increase development in the electrical power sector of the country. The following are the three major areas of interconnection:
(i) Southern African Power Pool.
Tanzania has been a member of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) since its inception. The main goals of the SAPP are coordination and cooperation in the planning and operation of the various systems to minimize costs while maintaining reliability, and the equitable sharing of the resulting benefits. Some of the SAPP projects include Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya interconnection, Malawi-Mozambique interconnection and DRC-Zambia interconnection.
(ii) Nile Basin Regional Power Trade Project.
This proposal for a Nile Basin Regional Power Trade Project has been developed under the Shared Vision Program (SVP) of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). The project aims to implement the institutional means to coordinate the development of regional power markets among the Nile Basin countries and build analytical capacity and provide technical infrastructure to manage Nile Basin resources in development through equitable utilization of and benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources. The project commenced in 2003.
(iii) Nile Equatorial Lakes- Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP)
The NELSAP Power Development and Trade projection aims at development of infrastructure consisting of small scale hydropower development in crucial areas, and strengthening transmission interconnections between several countries in the NELSAP region (Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda).
(iv) East African Regional Power Plan
Under the support of the East African Community, the East African Power Master Plan Study is being put into effect to define the least cost expansion programme for the development of combined power generation system for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Tanzania also participates in the East Africa Community Energy Committee whose major objective is to prepare the East Africa Power Master Plan and the Energy Committee for the proposed Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya interconnection. There are also plans to set an Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) whose objective is to establish a framework for power exchanges between utilities of the member states.
