NEWS

THE Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) is upgrading its power production stations to boost electricity generation in the country.

The power stations currently under extension include Kinyerezi I which will generate 185 megawatts and Ubungo III 112 megawatts.

Tanesco Director General Maharage Chande told journalists during a tour to inspect the work progress that to date power generation from Ubungo III has reached 60 megawats which have already been connected to the national grid.

He added that the extension of Kinyerezi I is progressing well noting that the first 70 megawatts which will be produced will be added to the national grid in April this year.

The DG said that until August this year the entire work will have been completed which will make Kinyerezi I which currently generates 150 megawatts to have the capacity to produce 335 megawatts.

According to Mr Chande, maintenance at Kinyerezi I and Ubungo III has resulted in an increase in gas consumption, necessitating the improvement of the infrastructure to meet that demand.

Chande said that the upgrade will take place at the existing Songosongo gas wells from February 1-10, 2022 and that once completed, it will boost the production of additional gas required.

"The improvements in the Tanzania Petroleum Development Company (TPDC) and Pan African Energy Tanzania (PAET) gas systems may result in gas shortages in natural gas power generation facilities, and some of these systems will have to be shut down to allow this essential exercise," he said.

He told reporters in Dar es Salaam that this will result in a reduction in electricity generation and have an impact on some places.

"During the period of improvement, information on the timetable of power rationing for each region will be published by the respective regions from time to time," he said, adding, "We apologise for any trouble this may give our consumers," said Mr Chande.

TANESCO reported last year that electricity generation at key dams had declined by 344 megawatts (21 per cent of the total) due to lower water levels caused by lack of rainfall and lower river inflow.

Drought across the country is endangering electricity generation in hydropower plants, according to a TANESCO media advisory, with the decrease in water in the dams affecting electricity generation at the Kihansi, Kidatu, and Pangani power stations.

As a result, the firm was seeking to increase natural gas power generation by speeding up the maintenance of some of its units, notably Ubungo I, Kinyerezi I, and Ubungo III.

It also stated that it was looking forward to the inauguration of the 36MW plant at Nyakato power station, which will add a total of 358MW to the national grid's available power.

Routine data on electricity generation puts the country's capacity at 1,605MW, where gas contribution tops 900MW, hydropower 508MW and renewable sources around 58MW of input, but certain projections affirm that by 2023, out of 550MW of new power input generated, private sector sources will account for 400MW and the public sector 150MW, with the parastatal expecting 600MW new input by 2025.

Hydropower production is among the major sources of electricity at present, but major rivers feeding key dams have low levels of water owing to a prolonged dry season.