By Elkana Kuhenga and Maureen Odunga
EFFORTS to ensure
all citizens benefit from the country's gas discovery is taking shape as...
preparations of a draft on Domestic Natural Gas Promotion Plan has been
finalised.
The anticipated 250
million US dollar project which is equivalent to over 500bn/-will kick
off as a pilot project in five regions-Arusha, Tanga, Kilimanjaro,
Morogoro and Dodoma.
Deputy Minister of
Energy Ms Subira Mgalu disclosed at an event to introduce the plan which
was held in Dar es Salaam on Friday jointly organised with the Japan
International Co-operation Agency (JICA) which was responsible for
conducting the study within a period of three years.
According to her,
the plan will among other things stimulate the industrialisation drive,
boost the agriculture sector and increase efficiency in domestic use.
"Utilisation of the
discovered natural gas which accounts for over 57 trillion cubic feet
requires proper planning which will cater for both export and domestic
use in the various sectors. "For instance, the current gas consumption
in power generation is 800 megawatts out of the 1,601 megawatts being
produced in the country," said Ms Mgalu.
Thus, the intention
is to further reduce petroleum power generation and use in the
vehicles, factories among other consumption options.
In making the plan
viable, vehicles have started using gas in Dar es Salaam, whereby 200
cars have been installed with natural gas systems and more others will
follow suit.
Besides, industries
have also been installed with natural gas, citing an example of 50
factories responsible for the production of fertilisers.
She also hinted on
domestic use, whereby gas use has helped in environmental conservation
as people are now opting for cooking in their homes.
To support the
process, she revealed that the Tanzania Petroleum Development
Corporation (TPDC) has rolled out necessary infrastructure to cater for
its supply in regions that include Dar es Salaam, Lindi, Mtwara and
Coast.
Likewise, the
intention is for TPDC to maintain its own blocks and start extracting
gas for both import and export as the measure is to transform gas into
liquefied forms for packaging, to ease its transportation.
"Considering the
magnitude to the project, the discovered gas is anticipated to survive
until the year 2046 since the kick start of the project in 2017," she
observed.
The Commissioner of
Petroleum and Gas in the Ministry of Energy, Mr Adam Zuberi, stated
that, the study was aimed at coming up with lucrative ways which can
reach societies living in areas far from the gas pipeline.
Thus, the study had
proposed gas to be processed into liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at
Kinyerezi and transported to users, terminals or gas-service stations by
trucks, using containers that will be conditioned at satellite
terminals for delivery.
He added: "Tanzania
has not delayed to invest in natural gas; teams of exploration are
still exploring for more areas with natural gas and to those areas
discovered with natural gas, we are in talks with investors who are
willingly to invest to our country for the benefit of all Tanzanians."
The head of
Domestic Natural Gas Promotion Plan (DNGPP) study, Kensuke Kanekiyo,
told the media on the sidelines of the event that the study took three
years at a cost of two million USD and it has proposed an approximate
200- 250 million USD amount to complete the first phase of the project.
Currently the
pipeline channel has been constructed and the gas services have begun to
be provided to residence in Dar es Salaam city.
But, if the study will be effective, its implementation enables Tanzania to become a gas society.
"Our assessment
shows that this approach is quite viable but the next stage only
requires the government of Tanzania to state how it will proceed with
the next project. Japan will be ready to support the government of
Tanzania, by providing programs to create awareness and increase
workforce, engineers, business administration and so on, anywhere that
it requires Japanese aid," he added.
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