Govt launches 7tr/- power project

To connect close to 80,000 villages across mainland Tanzania to the national electricity grid and renewable energy sources.

A massive 7 trillion/- power project that aims to supply electricity to an estimated 5 million Tanzanians over the next five years have been launched, a top energy officials has revealed.
The ambitious project, to be largely implemented using the government's own financial resources, will connect a total of 7,873 villages in all districts across mainland Tanzania to electricity.
"We expect a penetration rate or 30 percent for electrification in the targeted villages, which based on the rule of thumb will amount to estimate 1 million household," the acting director general of the state-run Rural Energy Agency (REA), Gissima Nyamo-Hanga told the Guardian in an interview.
"Given that the average household size in Tanzania is 5 people per household, we therefore expect to benefit around 5 million in the rural electrification project," Nyamo-Hanga said.
At least 4tr/- out of 7tr/- required for the project will be invested in connecting new villages to electricity for the first time, while the remaining 3tr/- is to be spent on extending power to villages that already have transmission infrastructure but their populations don't have access to power.
Nyamo-Hanga said the project is part of the implementation of the national electrification programme dubbed  "Turkey Phase III rural electrification"
He said implementation of five year programme have started in earnest with the allocation of substantial public funding in the government's 2016/17 fiscal year budget.
Under the project, 7,679 villages will be connected to the national power grid and 176 geographically isolated villages will get access to off-grid electricity from renewable  energy source, he said.
"The rural electrification drive has received a major boost from President John Magufuli's government in the 2016/17 budget with allocation of 534.4 billion/- for the projects. This is an increase of around 50-fold from the budget when REA was first established (in 2007)," he said
Several development partners, including Sweden, Norway, the World Bank, the African Development Bank  and the European Union are also supporting government efforts to connect rural communities to electricity, according to Nyamo-Hanga.
So far, some 4,395 villages out of the country's total 12,268 villages have been connected to electricity, representing 36 percent of the target.
The government's goal is to ensure that all villages in mainland Tanzania have access to electricity by the year 2012.
The government also wants to lift the proportion of the population with the access to0 electricity to 85 percent in 2025 and reach 100 percent power coverage by 2030.
An estimated 40 percent of Tanzania's total population of around 47 million currently has access to electricity.
The government wants to make use of it huge natural gas deposits to boost gas-fired power generation and wean itself off reliance on hydro power, which has in the past led to rolling blackouts during periods of drought.
A new study by research network Afro barometer has revealed that across 36 African countries, just 2 in 5 people have access to a reliable supply of energy throughout the day.
Marred by insufficient capacity, poor reliability and high costs, the energy infrastructure in Africa  is still problematic, with 25 nations in sub- Saharan African facing " a crisis," according to the World Bank.
In some countries - Burundi, Chad, Liberia, Malawi and South Sudan -less than 10 percent of people have access to electricity at all.
Overall, 625 million people are without power in sub- Saharan Africa alone that is 68 percent of the population, according to the International Energy Agency.
The African continent accounts for 13 percent of the world population, but only 4 percent of the energy demand.
Africa is rich with fossil fuels and renewable resources, but they are not evenly distributed.
The 48 countries that make up sub-Saharan Africa generate roughly the same amount of power as Spain.
Renewable energy investments are on the rise, and hydro power has huge unlocked potential while it already represent one fifth of the overall production, only 10 percent of the estimated potential is being utilized, according to the World Bank.
The rising cost of electricity means manufacture is slowing down, and limited access to electricity is affecting investment decision and potential growth, according to analysis. For citizens this means regular blackouts, clinics left without the tools they need to save lives and vulnerable security systems.  
 
Source; The Guardian