Morogoro. Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) is unveiling 70 Megawatts of
electricity to power the first phase of the standard gauge railway (SGR) set to start operations in the coming few months.Energy minister Medard Kalemani told editors here yesterday that actual construction of power lines between Dar es Salaam (Kinyerezi) and Morogoro (Kingorwira) was complete and that the 70MW would be immediately availed to Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) as soon as it (TRC) gets ready to start run its electricity-powered SGR trains between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro.
“We have invested Sh71.1 billion in building the necessary power infrastructure for the first phase of the SGR. The project is done by 100 percent,” he said, detailing a number of other projects that the government has implemented in the energy sector.
He was gracing Tanesco workshop run for editors from Friday.
Dr Kalemani, who doubles as Chato lawmaker, allayed fears that SGR train operations could be disrupted in times of power cuts, saying the locomotives being imported will be those that have inbuilt power-saving systems to will keep them charged for not less than one hour.
“Firstly, power disruptions will be reduced but secondly, the locomotives will run in such a way that they are able to keep themselves powered for an hour to two from the time that a power cut happens,” said Dr Kalemani.
Tanzania, he said, was currently undertaking a number of power generation projects – including the 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station - in an effort to meet the goal of producing 5,000MW by the year 2025.
Data, produced by Tanesco’s managing director Tito Mwinuka and which were supported by Dr Kalemani, show that currently, the country produces 1,604MW.
This is more than the current demand, which stands at 1,180MW.
“Our goal therefore is ensure that we have enough power to support our country’s industrial drive while the excess will be exported,” said Dr Mwinuka.
According to Dr Kalemani, the Sh6.5 trillion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station – had a strategic importance to Tanzania’s economic development endeavours and that the government deserved a pat on the back for deciding to implement it.
He exuded confidence that the project, which is fully-funded by the government, will be completed by June, 2022.
“We will use our electricity as a means of strengthening our ties with neighbouring countries where we will export power to,” he said, detailing several reasons why President John Magufuli’s administration decided to implement the project which had been in planning books for decades.
According to Dr Kalemani, hydropower remains the cheapest source of electricity and this means that the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station will bring electricity costs down.
He said it costs only Sh36 to produce a unit of electricity from water. Nuclear comes second because it required Sh65 to a unit.
Wind and geothermal are the third and fourth cheapest sources, with the production of each unit costing Sh103 and Sh112 respectively.
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