Tanzania starts $1,3 bln project to connect more people to gas-derived electricity

Tanzania has initiated a $1.33 billion project to pipe natural gas to its commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and help relieve chronic power shortages in the city, the president’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
The new pipeline is 532km long and it is financed by a Chinese loan; it is part of a plan to add about 2000 MW of new gas-fired electricity generating power by 2018 to increase Tanzania’s generating capacity to 10000 MW by 2025.
The expanding capacity will help meet domestic demand as the government connects more people to the national grid beyond the 40% who are connected now, and offer the opportunity to export to neighbors.
Tanzania estimates it has about 55 tcf of recoverable natural gas reserves off its southern coastline. Discoveries in Tanzanian and Mozambican waters have led to predictions the region could become the world’s third-largest exporter of natural gas.
The government said it hopes, by switching to gas-fired power plants, to save around $1 bln a year in oil imports for electricity generation after the completion of the pipeline.