With the country’s ambitious 6,000MW green energy generation roadmap, if successful, President Samia Suluhu Hassan will make Tanzania one of Africa’s top renewable power-generating states, after South Africa and Morocco
In spite of enormous hydrocarbon potential, Tanzania is planning to plug more than 6,000 megawatts of renewable power – more than its current total power capacity – into its national grid, as President Samia Suluhu Hassan mounts rapid economic reforms to woo investors to the country.
On April 29, Tanzania announced it would ink an agreement with exploration firm Equinor and with Exxon Mobil to develop a vast liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant worth $30 billion, by the end of May.
Tanzania has an estimated 57 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves but disagreements with oil corporations over production-sharing had stalled investments in the sector. However, President Hassan renewed negotiations with energy firms to revive the construction of offshore natural gas projects in 2023.
But while the East African nation looks to prop up its gas industry, its renewable energy sector is set to record its biggest growth in decades.
Its 2,100MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) is inching closer to completion, with the Ruhudji and Rumakali hydropower projects also lined up to begin producing 358MW and 222MW respectively.
The developments will be a significant boost for Tanzania which as of 2021 had a total electricity supply of just over 1,605 MW.