Tanzania's Julius Nyerere hydropower project completion in blur

By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA, Tanzania

The Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere Hydropower project will now be completed in 2024 and not in 2022 as earlier anticipated due to ‘challenges’, the power agency has said.

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According to the Director General of the country’s power agency, Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO), Maharage Chande, the grand power project’s completion will delay due to challenges facing its construction.

The controversial Julius Nyerere Hydropower which is being constructed in the Stiegler's Gorge area across the Rufiji river in eastern Tanzania started in 2019 and was expected to be completed in 2022 with an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts (2,836,000 hp) and produce 5,920GWh of power annually.

In October 2018, after diplomatic negotiations between the late Tanzania's President John Magufuli and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the government of Tanzania awarded the design and construction contract for this power project to the Egyptian company Arab Contractors together with the Egyptian manufacturing company El SewedyElectric, at a budgeted cost of US$2.9 billion (TSh6.558 trillion).

The Arab Contractors planned to complete the construction of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam in 42 months’ time including 6 months' for mobilization.

Presenting the company’s strategic plan and service provision strategies before TANESCO stakeholders and without naming the challenges, Chande said that the project is very big and all citizens are eager to witness its completion.

“This project is very big and everybody is eager to see its completion so instead of blaming or expressing dissatisfaction, you should support us in finding solutions for the challenges so that we complete the project immediately possible.” He said.

In May 2021, the former Minister of Energy, Dr. Madard Kalemani, said that filling up of the dam was officially expected to start in November 2021.

“In the circumstances, trial operations for the project’s turbines will start in May, next year (2022) and by June 14 the handing over of the project would have to be finalised to enable Tanzanians enjoy reliable electricity supply.” He said after inspecting project construction work in company of Egyptian Works Minister, Assem Gazzer and other building experts.

On 12 September 2021 Kalemani was replaced by January Makamba as Minister of Energy following cabinet reshuffle made by President Samia Hassan.

In August 2021, El Sewedy Electric Company Chief Executive, Ahmed El Sewedy, travelled to Tanzania to lobby President Hassan for a possible extension of the June 2022 completion date for the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project. The Egyptian entrepreneur also mooted possible investments elsewhere in the country.

However, experts’ arguments name two fundamental challenges facing the Julius Nyerere Hydropower project; chief of these concerns finance.

The Tanzania administration claims that it will finance the supposedly US$2.9 billion Hydropower project domestically through tax revenue; even at this figure, the state’s tax income would be severely stretched, not least given Tanzania’s rising debt.

Moreover, if compared to a record of similarly sized dams, costs should reach between $6 -10 billion.

A second major issue concerns the choice of contractors; Magufuli’s administration selected Egyptian firms with no experience of undertaking a major dam of this scale.

Furthermore, mega-dams have a long history of overrunning, usually taking between 8-10 years. That would give the Julius Nyerere Dam another six years till completion.

With these challenges, questions remain about the dam’s current status as the number one electricity-generation project in the country.  - Africa