Improved electricity supply for Tanzania’s capital

Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania, now has a more reliable modern electricity grid, built up with support from Finland. Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen officially opened the new control centre for the city’s electricity distribution grid on  Wednesday 16^th November, while visiting Tanzania.

“Power blackouts have been a serious problem for the residents, hospitals, schools and businesses of Dar es Salaam,” said Mykkänen. “The revamped electricity grid and its control system will enhance the reliability of the supply, and reduce the losses that occur during the distribution of electricity.”

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen and the Prime Minister of Tanzania Kassim Majaliwa opened the new control centre for Dar es Salaam’s revamped electricity distribution grid. Finland’s Ambassador to Tanzania Pekka Hukka (right) also attended the ceremony. Photo: Simo-Pekka Parviainen.

The Tanzanian capital’s ageing distribution grid has been malfunctioning badly, leading to frequent power cuts. The renewed grid will improve the everyday lives of the city’s residents, enhance public services, and give locally based industrial and commercial businesses a welcome shot in the arm. The improved availability of electricity will particularly benefit small-scale entrepreneurs, including many women.

The prospects for private sector businesses have long been hindered by the unreliability of the power supply, which has also created uncertainty in relation to the wider development of the national economy.

Environmental benefits

A totally new automised control, monitoring and data collection system has now been completed for Dar es Salaam. This will enable all of the city’s electricity distribution substations to be effectively monitored. The improvements will also greatly diminish expensive losses of electricity from old cables, overloaded distribution substations and other inefficient equipment.

The new system will also generate environmental benefits, by eliminating problems caused by the inefficient distribution system and frequent power cuts.

The project has been designed to support economically and socially sustainable development in Tanzania. It has been realised by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), whose personnel have been trained to run the newly improved substations and centralised monitoring system.

Finland has provided financial support for the project amounting to 26.7 million euros over the period 2013–2016.