The government of Tanzania plans to carry out an Sh38 billion Tabora-Kigoma transmission project. The project according to the East African country’s energy minister January Makamba will put an end to the ongoing electricity crisis, especially in Tabora.
The project includes the replacement of wooden poles along the route with concrete ones as well as the replacement of low voltage lines. Reportedly Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) has already replaced 54 kilometers of transmission cables at a cost of more than Sh500 million. Work will continue in other places across the region.
Moreover the Tabora-Kigoma transmission project includes the installation of large transformers and the completion of the construction of Uhuru substation at Urambo district.
Contractor and funding for the Tabora-Kigoma transmission project
The Tabora-Kigoma transmission project will be carried out by the Electrical Transmission Distribution Construction and Maintenance Company (ETDCO). It will be funded from the Sh500 billion that the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan allocated for boosting power distribution and transmission across the country.
According to Tanesco project manager Japhet Mwaseke, soil analysis works at the project sites, including the substation have been completed. The construction of the foundation Mwaseke said is expected to begin next month as the contractor is currently finishing the substation design.
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Mr. Liberata Thomas, an engineer with the ETDCO, on the other hand said work on the transmission lines will begin once residents have been fully compensated by commissioning concrete poles all the way to Kigoma. Richard Muyungi, head of projects and compensation at Tanesco, said that Sh4.3 billion will be used as compensation to the locals along the 115-kilometer stretch from Tabora to Urambo.
