Tanzania turns to natural gas for cheap electricity

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Kizito Makoye Dar Es Salaam AFTER decades of relying on supplemental private power generating plants to make up hydropower shortages, Tanzania will replace them with natural gas-fired turbines as the nation taps its big reserves of natural gas to generate cheap electricity. Amid recurring droughts that have crippled the operations of the country’s major hydropower facilities, the east African nation is trying to diversify its energy sources – but potentially at the price of higher carbon emissions. The move to turn off furnace oil-powered generators would probably save state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) 1.6 trillion Tanzanian shillings (R63.5 billion) a year, the government said.

Eliakim Maswi, the permanent secretary in the Ministry for Energy and Minerals, said the move aimed to cut costs and allow Tanzania to use its own gas resources.

“We want to ensure that we have reliable and available power supply at the lowest cost so that the public can enjoy lower tariffs,” he said.

Although Tanzania’s emissions of greenhouse gases are very low, experts say current energy development plans – such as greater use of coal and natural gas – will probably lock the country onto a much higher emission pathway.

A 2011 government study on the economics of climate change estimated the country’s annual per capita emissions will increase tenfold to 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.

Tanzania has for some years suffered from prolonged drought that has affected its hydropower capabilities. Shortages have led to power rationing. To deal with the problem, the government hired private companies including Aggreko and the US-based Symbion Power to generate more than 300 megawatts (MW) of power daily on a short-term basis – about a fifth of the country’s electricity needs.

Symbion has since 2012 expanded its power generation activities in the country to produce about 225MW daily at its plants in Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Dodoma.

That generating capacity would be replaced by other facilities, including Tanzania’s first natural gas-fired plant, the government said. The 240bn Tanzanian shilling plant being built at Kinyerezi in Dar es Salaam is expected to meet about 20 percent of national electricity demand.

Local analysts, however, warned that the switchover could hurt the economy.

“From what I know, Tanesco has entered lengthy agreements with those [private] companies. I am sure they will not be standing idly by to see their lucrative deals scrapped. They will definitely unleash a fierce legal battle against any move to terminate their contracts,” Evans Mzava, an independent researcher and energy consultant, said.

However Maswi, of the Energy Ministry, said the government would not violate any contractual terms with private companies.

Tanzania has proven reserves of natural gas in excess of 50 trillion cubic feet – more than enough to put the country on a faster economic development path and help it build energy independence, the government says. – Reuters