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Private sector ’ready to invest in power generation’
2006-03-10 14:58:24
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
The private sector, which includes members of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), is ready to participate in financing the generation, transmission and distribution of power to supplement the government’s efforts.
Speaking at the Third Open Forum on Tanzania Power Sector yesterday, CTI Chairman Reginald Mengi, said the country has a number of alternative potential power sources that can be harnessed to make her self-sufficient.
The forum was attended by more that 70 players in the power sector.
Mengi, who is also Executive Chairman of IPP Ltd, said the initiative taken by the government to draw up a power policy and a master plan is commendable.
He called on the government to speed up the establishment of the Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (EWURA) and Rural Energy Agency (REA) that will create rules and regulations that will enable the private sector to effectively participate in the power sector.
He noted that Tanesco is too large to manage effective and efficient power generation, transmission and distribution.
He said: ’’We would like to recommend that it should be split into three independent institutions to deal with power generation, transmission and distribution – the government would directly invest in large-scale power projects instead of projects that can be funded by Tanesco. This would contribute to having competitive electricity tariffs.’’
’’Tanzania has a number of alternative sources of potential energy that can be used to generate adequate electricity such as biomass, coal, petroleum, wind and solar.
We have become dependent on hydropower,’’ he added, noting that it was high time these alternative sources of energy were exploited.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, Laurence Masha, the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Dr Ibrahim Msabaha, said Tanesco was no longer a monopoly in the power sector.
He said: ’’There are some Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that generate and sell power to Tanesco, including among others, Kiwira Coal Mines, which contribute six megawatts to the national grid; Tanwat which produces 2.5 megawatts, Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) that produces 100 megawatts, while Songas contributes up to 190 megawatts.’’
Dr Msabaha said the country has coal reserves of 304 million tonnes, which can be used to generate a lot of power.
He said that, currently only 150,000 tonnes of coal are being used to generate power. He added that gas is another important source of power.
’’Estimates show that we have gas reserves of 45 billion cubic metres. Other sources include biomass of 33.5 million hectares,’’ he said.
The minister said that current exploitation of biomass stands at 91,200 to 130,000 hectares a year and that Tanzania has also geothermal power potential of 50 to 75 degrees centigrade that is still unexploited.
Dr Msabaha said that the government would take measures to ensure that the power crisis the country is now facing becomes a thing of the past.
He said: ’’We have put in place various short, medium and long-term measures to address power problems. Short term measures will be taken during the next four months to address the current power crisis.’’
He revealed that these short-term measures include hiring power generators and the purchase of 100 megawatts gas generators, while the medium-term measures include the installation of 180MW generators at Kinyerezi and generation of 200MW from Kiwira Coal Mines.
’’Long-term plans through Tanesco, the government will utilise the Mchuchuma coal to generate 400MW,’’ he said.
He added that the government would also consider the importation of power from cross-boarder interconnections with Zambia and Uganda.
’’We will also use ethanol from sugar to generate electricity,’’ he said.
He conceded that the government lacks the capacity to undertake power generation given the limited resources.
Minister for Finance Zakia Meghji, the Minister for Planning, Economy and Empowerment Dr Juma Ngasongwa, Chief Secretary Philemon Luhanjo also attended the forum.
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