Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) has signed power purchase agreements with six independent power producers (IPPs) to procure power from renewable energy projects being developed in Tanzania with a total capacity of 19.16 MW. TANESCO will buy electricity, under the supervision of the Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (EWURA) of Tanzania.
The selected IPPs include Nishati Lutheran Investment which is developing a 36kW hydropower project; Madope Hydro with a 1.7 MW hydroelectric project on the Madope river; Luponde Hydro which is implementing a 9 kW on the Luhololo River; Lung’ali Natural Resources, which is implementing the 1.2 MW Maguta hydroelectric project; NextGen Solawazi which is working on a 5 MW hydropower project in Kigoma; and SSI Energy Tanzania, which is currently building a 10 MWp solar power plant in Kahama. The six IPPs will have to begin commercial operation within 18 months.
The renewable energy projects are being developed under a recently introduced regulatory framework which enables and encourages IPPs to enter Tanzania’s energy market. The new regulations allow TANESCO to enter into agreements with small scale power producers in areas where the national grid has not yet arrived. Meanwhile, TANESCO is also developing other electricity projects in Tanzania to help the country reach a 75 per cent electrification rate by 2035. These projects include the development of the Rumakali and Ruhudji hydroelectric power plants with slated capacities of 222 MW and 358 MW, respectively.
Currently, Tanzania has a power generation capacity of around 1.5 GW. The larger part of this capacity comes from 696.3 MW of thermal gas and diesel power plants and from 561.8 MW of hydropower. As per International Renewable Energy Agency, Tanzania had only installed 26 MW of solar power by the end of 2019.