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| Wind farm |
By ADAM IHUCHA
A multi-million-dollar project
targeting central Tanzania’s abundant wind for power generation is taking
shape, thanks to the Chinese bank, for agreeing to fund a project.
The state-run National Development
Corporation (NDC) Managing Director, Gideon Nasari confirmed to have secured a
$123 million-non-concessional loan from Exim Bank of Beijing, China for the
wind power generation plant.
NDC with a 51 percent stake in the wind
power project and a privately owned company, Power Pool East Africa Limited,
with 49 shares, will be servicing the loan in 20 years.
As it stands now, ambitious plans are
afoot to develop a $123 million Singida wind park, which will have an installed
capacity of 1,800 MW when fully operational in five years.
Total secured land is 1,450ha and will
be extended to 5,000ha.
NDC indicates that the Singida Wind
Power project, which located nearly 12km East of Singida Municipality, will
start generating a 50MW by 2015.
“The project expects to extend power
generation up to 300MW, in few years” Mr Nasari explained.
Power demand
The demand for power in Tanzania is
growing by more than 50 MW a year, fuelled partly by an expansion of mining
undertakings in the north and southern of the country.
Currently, hydro is the major source of
electricity in Tanzania. The wind farm in Singida will mean that power-hungry
industries will soon be provided with electricity generated locally.
The wind farm will benefit the local
economy, providing 200 jobs during the construction phase and a handful of jobs
when it is up and running.
Regional Commissioner Parseko Kone is
also hoping the rest of his impoverished region will profit.
"The people of Singida are
expecting a lot of this project," he says. "They're hoping it will
help to develop our economy and because wind is free, they're also expecting
cheaper electricity tariffs."
Wind power on a commercial scale is
unknown in sub-Saharan Africa, despite the existence of constantly blowing and
consistently strong winds, especially along the top of the rift valley, the
mountain plateau which runs through East Africa from Ethiopia to Malawi and
Mozambique.
In Europe, the industry is well
developed. Germany, the European leader in terms of generation, produces more
than three gigawatts of power (3000 MW) from wind turbines.
The target in many
European countries is to have 50 percent of all power generated by wind.
Africa is now set to benefit from the
progress made in Europe. The equipment is becoming cheaper, as well as more
robust.
The Deputy Minister for Industry and
Trade, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu, said the wind power project, would be a beneficial
as it would produce power at very low cost.
Mr Nyalandu who happens to be an MP from Singida said that in Europe they use wind with maximum speed of five metres per second, but in Singida a wind speed can reach as high as 9.2 metres per second.
Mr Nyalandu who happens to be an MP from Singida said that in Europe they use wind with maximum speed of five metres per second, but in Singida a wind speed can reach as high as 9.2 metres per second.
According to Dr Gasper Mpehongwa, from
Tumaini University Stephano Moshi, Africa is now ready for wind power on a
commercial scale.
"If the wind East Africa project
is a success, then it could lead to more wind farms, not just in Tanzania but
in the rest of East African, particularly along the rift valley, where we know
the winds are strong."
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