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’Power major drawback to economy’
2006-10-07 09:01:38
By Gerald Kitabu
A senior government official revealed this week that in every single unit lost in the ongoing power crisis, costing the economy two US dollars (2,600/-) for lost power unit.
Arthur Mwakapugi, who is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, said the economic loss is massive when the load-shedding is calculated in monetary terms.
He was speaking to The Guardian on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Songas second anniversary in Dar es Salaam.
”This year’s power crisis is a major challenge that has taught us that we should no longer depend on hydroelectric power alone. Rather, we should harness other sources of energy as well,” said Mwakapugi.
He said power crisis would ease gradually through current efforts by the government to install thermal generators to reduce the power deficit and the situation will completely come to an end by next year.
Songas Managing Director Paul Kunert said he was aware of the negative impact of the current power crisis, adding that his management would work hard to ensure Songas generated enough electricity to minimise the impact.
”We are aware of the heavy reliance by Tanesco and Tanzania on Songas at this time, that’s why over the past 12 months, we have surpassed our contractual targets and expect to remain ahead of target at the end of the year,” he said.
The Ubungo power plant began generating lean, natural gas in 2004 before it was officially inaugurated by retired president Benjamin Mkapa on October 4 the same year.
It was later upgraded with two additional generators in 2005, increasing the plant’s generating capacity by over 50percent, adding 75 megawatts for a total of 190 megawatts.
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