The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
8 October 2008
The Tanzania Electric Supply Company, Tanesco, yesterday announced fresh power rationing that would see some regions in the country remain without power for nine hours everyday.
A statement released last evening by the utility firm said the national grid has lost some 60MW supply of electricity following technical defects at two power plants in Dar es Salaam. Tanesco Public Relations Manager Badra Masoud said a transformer at the company's 100MW Ubungo gas powered plant was destroyed and caused a loss of 40MW.
She also said a 20MW generator belonging to Aggreko Company collapsed and failed, leaving the firm with a 20MW yield.
The rationing has come barely a week after Tanesco suspended the earlier 10 hours rationing caused by the loss of 110MW at the Songas plant. The public had thus a short-lived sigh of relief following last week's revival of one Songas turbine with a 40MW capacity.
Ms Masoud said; "Because of the two defects the national grid has lost 60MW which demands that we shed power." She said the other two Songas turbines with a combined capacity of 70MW were still being repaired by General Electric engineers.
She said Tanesco has however spared Dar es Salaam, not to be subjected to the rationing everyday, due to concentration of the industrial sector that plays a big role in the economy and in Tanesco collections.
She gave no timetable to indicate if, like in the recent rationing, the industrial area would be spared. Ms Masoud said the city will have no supply for nine hours, from 9am to 6pm everyday on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Tuesday and the rest of the days will see all the other areas served by the national grid remain without supply for a similar duration. Inadequate power supply is among Tanzania's major problems that hampers economic activity and drives away potential investors.
The energy sector has also been rife with corruption, with suspect power contracts like the infamous Richmond Emergency Power and IPTL blamed for raking in billions of shillings in public funds in capacity payments that are earned without even producing power.
The country experienced one of its worst electricity supply crises in 2006 that ran for almost a year. The crisis was then blamed on drought that saw hydropower stations run dry.
Taneso says the current problem is largely technical and could not be foreseen. The 100MW Ubungo gas plant owned by Tanesco was only switched on recently.
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