Tanzanian authorities on Thursday began rationing electricity because of water shortages at hydroelectric plants caused by a drought that has placed millions at risk of famine across East Africa.
Minister of Energy and Minerals Ibrahim Msabaha said power will be cut during the day from 8am to about 5pm local time.
”We are now forced to use water at [the main] Mtera Dam frugally until mid-March, when an additional 60-megawatt gas turbine will be installed at Ubungo power station in Dar es Salaam,” he said by phone.
The Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) will provide power during the night.
”It is important to have light at night to curb crime,” he said.
On Tuesday, President Jakaya Kikwete said most of the hydro power plants will be shut due to water shortages.
”We are now approaching a point where we must shut down the hydropower generation plants,” he said.
Kikwete said the water level at Mtera Dam, which feeds the major hydroelectric plants in central Tanzania, is below the permitted power-generation level of 690m.
”The government in January permitted Tanesco to continue with production until the level reached 687m,” he said.
”The level has since dropped to 687,59m, meaning we have only 59cm remaining, beyond which power production will have to stop. Under such circumstances, power rationing is now inevitable,” he warned.
He said the 447 megawatts currently produced by Tanesco’s hydro and thermal stations and firms contracted by the state fall short of national demand, which is said to be double the amount being generated.
Tanesco chief Adrian van der Merwe said power rationing will not affect institutions such as hospitals, key government facilities and strategic industries.
Electricity has for the past five months been erratic in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, for reasons including drought and a breakdown of facilities. Many traders and industrialists have been forced to resort to noisy and costly generators.
Tanzania’s total generation capacity is 953 megawatts, more than two-thirds of which is hydroelectric. — Sapa-AFP