Dar es Salaam — The development of the Stigler's Gorge power generation project will start in July this year, raising hopes that electricity challenges in the country will soon become a thing of the past.
The project will see the construction of the largest dam in Tanzania along the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve. The hydropower project will have an installed capacity of at least 2,100MW
Speaking ahead the official commissioning of the Kinyerezi II power generation project in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, April 03, 2018, the Minister for Energy, Dr Medard Kalemani, said actual construction of the Stigler's Gorge dam will take 36 months.
He noted that currently, government was building relevant infrastructure that will simplify the project implementation.
"We are now connecting the area with electricity from Morogoro... We are also building roads to connect the area... We want him to directly start implementing the project as soon as it receives all the relevant approvals... .It is our hope that the project will be completed by early 2021," he said.
According to him, the Stieglers Gorge power generation project is expected to completely end the country's power woes and sustain local industries with electricity and sell the surplus outside the country.
Currently, said Dr Kalemani, Tanzania's power surplus stands at 200 MW.
The Kinyerezi II Project will add some 240 MW of electricity to the national grid.
