Africa-Press – Tanzania. DAR ES SALAAM : SONGAS is planning to expand its gas to electricity generation by one-third to meet the growing power demand of the country.
Songas, the largest private supply of safe, reliable and cost-effective energy in the country, currently produces 180 megawatts and envisages increasing output to 240MW at the same premises in Ubungo.
Songas’ Deputy Managing Director Dr Michael Mngodo said Tanesco has asked them to extend supply to over 500MW shortly and they’re capable of meeting the client’s needs but are waiting for the finalising of the contract extension talks.
“You should remember that Songas has contact with the government that ends next year—2024.
“However, with the extension of our contract, we see us not only generating the same power consistently but also expanding at the same premises.
“How much we are going to invest for the expansion drive depends on the ongoing contract extension discussion,” Dr Mngodo said at the side-line of the two-day Energy Forum started on Wednesday.
The deputy managing director, who started as an operator to raise ranks to the first local plant manager in 2020, said the expansion to 240MW is immediately a short-term plan but also in the future considering venturing into other areas of renewable energy—wind and solar—in the bid to protect the country and global from the impact of climate change.
“If opportunity arises we will go to invest in the new areas of renewable energies—wind, solar and geothermal,” he said.
This year, Songas is celebrating its 20 years of supplying safe, reliable and cost-effective energy in the country. The firm’s 54 per cent is owned by Globeleq and the remaining 46 per cent by the government.
The Deputy MD said that in the last two decades, they have paid some 137bn/- as a way of dividends to the government.
Additionally, the gas-to-electricity firm invested some 12 million US dollars (30bn/-) in the last 20 years in socio-economic development projects aimed at creating a sustainable, positive and long-term impact on host communities.
Dr Mngodo told Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, who officially opened the two-day forum that the negation talks for license extension are going on.
“Currently, we are looking forward to the discussion with [the Ministry of Energy] technocrats for the second round of talks,” he said.
The Premier, Mr Majaliwa, who toured the Songas’pavilion, directed the ministry’s technocrats to hasten the process to maintain smooth power generation.
“We [the country] need smooth and quality delivering of the power generation—uninterrupted,” the PM said.
Songas, with a workforce of some 74 staff, produces over 20 per cent of the country’s electricity demand.
The company has been a key player in the country’s energy sector since 2004 and using the natural gas from Songo Songo fields helped the economy to save 14tri/- in the last 20 years that could be used to import fuel to generate power.
Songas’ parent company, Globeleq is a leading independent power producer which operates and develops power projects in Africa.
Globeleq is owned by CDC (70per cent) of UK and Norfund (30per cent) of Norway. CDC and Norfund are development finance institutions that support investment in developing countries.
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
