High-voltage power line to Zambia on drawing board

DAILY NEWS Reporter

ZAMBIAN President Edgar Lungu delivers a keynote address at the opening of the African Development Bank (AfDB) board annual meeting at the Mulungushi Conference Centre in Lusaka. The meeting is being attended by delegates from across the continent and the globe yesterday. Among the delegates were; seated, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, who represented President John Magufuli, ADB President Akinwumi Adesina (third left) and Chad President, who is also African Union (AU) Chairperson, Idriss Deby Itno. (Photo by PMO)

TANZANIA plans to build a high-voltage electricity line to Zambia to meet the growing demand for power and related challenges in the neighbouring country, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has said.

Premier Majaliwa, who is in Zambia to attend the 51st Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) revealed the plans yesterday when contributing to discussions on Energy and Climate Change at the Mulungushi International Conference Hall in Lusaka.

“The government of Tanzania will build a power line of 400 kilovolt (KV) from Iringa-Dodoma-Singida-Shinyanga, which is part of a much larger electricity project connecting Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya,” he explained.

He said feasibility study for the 400Kv from Iringa to Mbeya was done in 2012 as the government is currently sourcing funds for the purpose of linking a section from Mbeya to Zambia’s national grid. Mr Majaliwa said to address energy challenges in the continent, African nations need to have enough funds, modern technology and experts, which is currently not the case.

The Premier added that Tanzania has been blessed with abundant natural gas currently at 57.25 trillion cubic feet (tcf), coal amounting to 1.9 billion tonnes, 4.7 gigawatts, where only 12 per cent is currently in use.

He informed the meeting that Tanzania has uranium deposits of 200 million pounds, geothermal power that can produce 5,000Mw of electricity as well as wind and sun energy sources.