Mini-power stations to serve rural parts of Tanzania

Saturday, 26 May 2012 15:55

The World Bank has announced that it will partly fund the construction of six mini-power stations in rural Tanzania

The stations will be constructed in Mbeya, Iringa, Ruvuma, Kigoma and Arusha, and will form mini-grids isolated from the national grid.

They are expected to have a combined capacity of 7.5 MW and will cost an estimated US$25 million.

Global Village Energy Partnership International (GVEP International) and Tanzania’s Rural Energy Agency (REA) will undertake the project.

Poor infrastructure and unreliable weather has reduced Tanzania’s capacity in hydro-power generation, leading the power utility to seek $257 million from local banks to fund emergency power programmes across the country.

It is estimated that local industries lose $18.4 million annually from costly power outages, which also affects their production costs.

Mwangi Mumero