Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) acting managing director, Kapuulya Musomba, is positive that the completion of all gas-fired power projects in the region will improve the Mtwara-Dar es Salaam gas pipeline supply.
Speaking to local media in Dar es Salaam, Musomba said the gas pipeline is estimated to attain 10% capacity from the present 6% after the completion of the 240MW Kinyerezi II plant.
“The gas pipeline full capacity is estimated to be attained by 2022 where most of the gas-fired plants will be finished,” he said.
Media quoted him affirming that presently it can be said that the pipeline is under-utilized owing to the setbacks in the execution of the gas-fired power plants.
Musomba said that the gas pipeline has been set up to get to its full capacity within a 10-year period, media reported.
The construction works of the Kinyerezi II worth $432 million was launched last year, with the government of Tanzania contributing 15% of the overall project investment.
Other gas-fired power projects comprise the Kinyerezi III and IV. On completion of all the projects, the country is estimated to save up to $1 billion yearly on oil imports for electricity generation, media reported.
It is reported that the Mtwara-Dar es Salaam pipeline and gas processing plants at Madimba and Songo Songo Islands forms part of government’s plan to put in about 2,000MW of new gas-fired electricity generating power by next year to improve the capacity to 10,000MW by 2025.
Even though all of these planned developments sound promising, a recently released audit report by Controller and Auditor General, Prof Mussa Assad, has bared some rather debasing findings concerning the new oil and gas discoveries.
It is reported that Tanzania has demonstrated natural gas reserves of 57 trillion cubic feet, with at least 49.5 trillion cubic feet of those reserves situated far offshore in the Indian Ocean
In addition, the nation has just made discoveries of 55.08 trillion cubic feet of natural gas both onshore and deep sea in the Indian Ocean, with international energy solutions companies announcing their interests in the exploration activities.
Royal Dutch Shell, along with Statoil, Exxon Mobil and Ophir Energy are said to be in discussion to construct the onshore liquefied natural gas export terminal in the Lindi Region.
