Tanzania commissions country’s largest hydropower plant

DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania commissioned a new 2,115-megawatt hydropower plant on Saturday, more than doubling the East African nation’s electricity generation capacity and creating a surplus that officials say could support power exports and industrial growth.

The Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), Tanzania’s biggest power plant, was built on the Rufiji River at a cost of about 7.45 trillion Tanzanian shillings ($2.84 billion).

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who inaugurated the plant, said it had helped eliminate a power generation shortfall that in the past has led to frequent and economically crippling blackouts.

“We are confident that this project will increase opportunities for business, investment, and production, create jobs, and boost individual income and the national GDP as a whole,” she said. The project lifts the country’s total power generation capacity to 4,646 MW against peak demand of 2,271 MW, leaving a surplus of 2,375 MW for exports, Energy Minister Deogratius Ndejembi said. He added that Tanzania was already in discussions to export electricity to several countries, including Kenya and Zambia. Construction of the plant began in 2019 but faced criticism from conservation groups, which argued that building a dam on a river running through the Selous Game Reserve could affect wildlife and habitats downstream.

The reserve is among the largest protected areas in Africa, home to one of its most significant concentrations of animals including elephant, black rhino and cheetah and a large variety of habitats, according to United Nations agency UNESCO.

Hassan acknowledged the project’s controversial history, but said Tanzania had overcome opposition during its development.

“We had no way to abandon this project, given its importance to our nation,” she said.

With the plant’s entry into operation, hydropower now accounts for around 60% of Tanzania’s power generation, with a significant portion also

generated from natural gas.