Two of Tanzania’s key mega-projects, the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP,) and the Standard Gauge Railway, have crossed key milestones this week. On Feb. 25 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Dr. Doto Biteko inaugurated turbine number 9 of the JNHPP, the first to be turned on, contributing the first 235 MW to the national grid. When fully operational, the project will produce 2,115 MW of electricity. Speaking at the inauguration, Dr. Biteko said that by mid-March, turbine number 8 will go into operation; Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will then officially inaugurate the project, built by Egypt’s The Arab Contractors construction firm.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy, Eng. Felchesmi Mramba, pointed out that 10,000 local youth had participated in constructing the project and will receive special certifications. They will also be involved in various other ongoing national projects.The project will increase electricity capacity from 1.6 GW to more than 3.7GW, allowing the country to increase the population’s access to electricity from 40% to 100%. The project will also supply electricity to neighboring Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, as soon as they can complete plans to interconnect their national grids.
The Julius Nyerere Hydropower project is largely a pan-African project. The dam is built by the Egyptian state owned Arab Contractors, while Egyptian multi-national Elsewedy Electric carried out its electrical engineering. The generators are supplied by China’s Dongfang Electric company. The financing is all African, done by the Tanzanian state budget and by the African Export-Import Bank
