By ADAM IHUCHA--
A long overdue
commercial wind farm in Tanzania’s central part is set to take off in the first
quarter of the 2014 at earliest.
Official says
treasurer is finalizing procedures to secure the multi-million-dollar loan from
a Chinese-state-owned-bank to finance the construction of wind Park in Singida.
A loan worth $136 million from the
Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) to National Development Corporation (NDC)
was delayed for a year, due to a state failure to issue guarantee.
NDC seeks the funds to establish a 50MW
wind farm and forms the initial phase of its grand plan to generate 150MW from
the site in partnership with private developers.
“The guarantee for the loan will be
issued in the coming weeks to enable the project to commence early next year,”
Finance Ministry official said in condition of anonymity.
Vice-President of China Daliang
International Group, a firm that will construct the wind farm, Mr Xu Youliang,
says failure by Tanzania’s state to issue guarantee had delayed both the
loan and the project for a year.
Mr Youliang says that
should the funds approved early 2014; it is a matter of 15 months, 24 of these
100m-plus-high power generators will be erected, as part of the first
commercial wind farm in sub-Saharan Africa.
Singida is one of the
poorest parts of Tanzania. There is little commercial agriculture, no industry,
but one thing there is plenty of is wind.
It is an untapped
resource, but one, which could hold the key to providing much-needed
electricity to central, and northern Tanzania and kick-starting the development
of the region.
Tanzania is very
reliant on hydroelectric power, which means in times of drought, there is a
power deficit.
Economists believe oil-generated
power is very expensive, so wind power offers a cheaper and more reliable
alternative.
The demand for power
in Tanzania is growing by more than 50 MW a year, fuelled partly by an
expansion of mining activities in the north of the country.
The wind farm in
Singida will mean that power-hungry industries will soon be provided with
electricity generated locally.
With a combined area
of 1,650 acres, the both wind farms are anticipated to feed the
power-hungry-nation with 10 percent energy output.
NDC will also partner with Power Pool East African Ltd a private company behind the grand power-generating project.
NDC will also partner with Power Pool East African Ltd a private company behind the grand power-generating project.
The wind farm will
benefit the local economy, providing 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."
NDC Director, Mr
Gideon Nasari said that the Singida wind farm would be selling power to
Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) for $23 cent per Khw, which would be
cheaper than electricity generated by gas.
“Our current focus is
to generate cheap energy which is cost effective for common folks to afford” Mr
Nasari explained.
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