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| Eng. Mhando |
The State owned power utility, Tanzania Electric Supply Co
Ltd(Tanesco), plans to increase its customers base to 1,500,000 by 2015 up from
the current 932,385, the company’s Managing Director, William Mhando told
Tanzania Editors Forum last Saturday.
Briefing editors about the current situation of power production,
distribution and supply, Tanesco’s Managing Director said by 2015 the company’s
customers would be 30 percent of the total population.
So far Tanesco has only 932,385 customers or 17 percent of the
country’s population, according to the company’s data.
However in reality there are bout 9 million electricity users in
Tanzania because energy experts believe that every single connection create
opportunity to new five users of electricity.
According to the company’s Managing Director by 2015 Tanesco plans to
produce a total of 2000 megawatts up from the current 833 megawatts.
The State Owned power utility also plans to reduce the electricity
loses during transmission to 15 percent down from the current 21 percent.
Tanzania produces an estimated 4.628 billion Kilowatts Hour per year
according to the data published by the World Bank in 2011. In 2008 the total
Kilowatts Hour (kWh) produced in Tanzania was 4.414 billion per year.
The Electricity production (kWh) in Kenya per year was 6.875 billion
units (kWh) in 2009, up from 6.775 billions kWh produced in 2008 according to a
World Bank report, published in 2010.
Tanzania’s electric power consumption (kWh per capital) is still the
lowest whereby in 2010 it was 86 units or kWh, while in Kenya the per capital
consumption stands at 147 units.
South Africa has the highest electric consumption per capital which
currently stands at 4,532units (kWh) or fifty times the per capital consumption
in Tanzania.
Explaining the Tanesco’s financial situation, the MD said despite
difficulties in financing as well as power rationing, the company has managed
to move from a loss-making of about 161bn/- in 2006 to a profit-making of 40bn/-
by the end of 2009.
Citing the company’s performance after the Parliament authorized a $1
billion power rescue plan in August last year, the MD said so far Tanesco has
managed to produce a total of 928.7 megawatts whereby Hydro electricity
production accounts for 45.3 percent, Gas 29.5 percent and Thermo electricity
25.2 percent.
However the company’s financial outlook are still bleak as it still
produces electricity at the highest price, but sell it at the lower price.
Currently with the heavy dependency on emergency power generating
plants, which mainly use fuel as the source of energy, it cost Tanesco a total
of 359/- to produce and distribute a single unit of electricity.
Taking an average price of 156/80 per unit after last week’s increment,
it means in every single unit of electricity produced by Tanesco, the company
will still lose 202/20, casting a bleak future to the cash strapped State owned
power utility.
Following the newly approved increment Tanesco’s revenues for 2012 are
projected to be 1.5trn/-. The company had sought to earn 1.86trn/-during this
fiscal year.
Source: The Guardian, www.ippmedia.com
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