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Small Hydro Power and Rural Electrification in Tanzania

H.Boby;
D.Mashauri
(Tanzania Electric Supply
Company Ltd.)

1 TANZANIA IN BRIEF

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 26~, April 1964. It consists of the mainland, formerly known as Tanganyika and Zanzibar Island. The capital is Dar es Salaam and the official administrative capital is Dodoma.

It is located in Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean to the East, Kenya and Uganda to the North, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) to the West, Zambia and Malawi to the Southwest and Mozambique to the South. Geographic Co-ordinates are 02 00 S-11 00 S and 30 00 E-40 00 E.

Natural resources exist in the country include hydropower, tin, nickel, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold and natural gas.

The history of Tanzania goes back over one and half million years. The remains of the earliest known man were discovered at Olduvai Gorge, Northern Tanzania in 1959. There is evidence of at least six civilisations, which have left traces of their culture and history. Excavations have revealed Roman coins and Chinese pottery.
1.1 Salient features
Coverage 945,090 sq. km
Inland Water Area 59,050 sq. km
Protected Wildlife Area 247,550 sq.km
Coastline 1,424 km
Population 32,000,000 (2001 estimate)
Language Kiswahili and English
Highest Elevation 5,895 mas1 (Mt.Kilimanjaro)
Deepest Point 773 mbsl (Lake Tanganyike bed)
Electricity 220Volts, 50Hz
1.2 Topography and Climate

The country rolls from forested mountains in the North 'and South, through the great central plateau of rich brown savannah grasses and bushes, down to the tropical coastline in the East. Extremes of topographical relief of African continent lie within Tanzania territory. Mount Kilimanjaro has a permanent ice cap at 5,895 masl, and the deepest point lies in the Tanganyika Lake bed at 773 mbsl. The significant geological structure is the East African Rift valley, its escarpment being the most favoured terrain for hydropower potential.

The coastal areas are hot and humid, with average day temperature of 30~C. The central plateau (-1,200masl) has hot days and cool nights. The Northern and Southern highlands has temperate climate. The rainy seasons extend from November to May and dry seasons from June to
October.
1.3 Hydrology and Environment

Tanzania is the country of the Great Lakes. It is bounded in the North by Lake Victoria, the source of River Nile, in the West is Lake Tanganyika, and the second deepest lake in the world and in the South is Lake Nyasa. There are also inland lakes mainly, Rukwa, Manyara, Eyasi
and Natron.

Tanzania main river basins are: Rufiji, Kagera, Malagarasi, Ruvuma, Pangani, Wami, Mare and coastal rivers, of which all have hydropower potentials most of them undeveloped.

Environmental issues include soil degradation, deforestation, desertification, destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats, unreliable rainfall affects marginal agriculture.
1.4 Economy

The economy is mainly dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 56% of GDP, provides 85% of ex-ports, and employs 90% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry accounts for 15% of GDP
and is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. Services account for the remaining 29%.
2 ENERGY

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals is responsible with all energyrelated matters in Tanzania. Under the Ministry, Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd. (TANESCO), a state owned company, was formerly the only company responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Other institutions involved are Ministry of Water (MoW) and The University of Dar as Salaam (UDSM). Recently, the energy sector has been reformed to al-low private investment. Currently here is only one IPP thermal power plant with installed capacity of 100MW.

The main source of energy is biomass (fuel wood), which accounts to 85% of the total energy consumption. Fossil fuel and Electricity ac-counts to 9% and 6% respectively.
2.1 Electricity

Electricity consumption by the end of year 1999 was 1911 GWh, out of which, 87GWh were imported from Uganda. The current energy production does not meet the demand, this call for a development of the hydro-power potential sites, which are at feasibility stage (Upper Kihansi, Ruhudji and Rumakali) and add more gas turbines. Currently there is a short-term plan to import more energy from Zambia. The current installed capacity is as shown in table 1.
2.2 Electricity Generation

The current status is that thermal amounts to 12.10% and hydro 87.90% of total country generation. However, the installed capacity is 41% and 59% respectively.
2.3 Hydropower Potential

Total hydropower potential is 4002 MW, out of which, 70 MW is Small Hydropower. The current developed hydropower makes only 14% of the total hydropower potential, and the developed small hydropower is 16% of the total Small Hydropower potential.
2.4 Small Hydropower

The capacity range of small hydro power plants is not exactly de-fined, however in Tanzania the following classification is used: small-scale hydropower plants 2.0-10.0MW, mini hydropower plants 0.5-2.0 MW, micro hydropower plants <0.5MW.

Presently there are five developed small hydropower stations and only one (Nyumba ya Mungu) with installed capacity of 8.0 MW is connected to the grid. Three stations (Kikuletwa, Tosamaganga and Mbalizi) currently are not working. The last one (Uwemba) is isolated from the gird with an installed capacity of 0.75 MW, supplying power to Njombe district (county), in Southem Tanzania.
2.5 Rural Electrification

Tanzania is currently involving herself in a rural electrification pro- gram, whereby all district headquarters and load centers should be electrified. Through this initiative, development of small hydropower is very important. The existing non-working small hydropower plants will be re-furbished and some of 23 studied small hydropower potential will be developed, pending on availability of funds.
2.6 Conclusion

It is estimated that in the developing countries alone, it would be an economic proposition to put about 200,000 MW of installed capacity to use by means of small-scale hydro-power plants. This provides an ample scope for rural electrification on the basis of renewable energy. Joint offort and International Corporation (Technology Transfer, Consultancy, Information Sharing, Business Corporation) among developing countries is needed to harness the abundant potential.
Table1