AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE construction of a 220 kV, 160km power transmission line spanning Kinyerezi -Dar es Salaam- Msamvu- Morogoro which will serve as a source of power for the envisaged Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train, is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Minister for Energy, Dr Medard Kalemani, made the revelation on Tuesday in Morogoro while briefing journalists and Tanesco staff after inspecting the transmission line at Kingolwira area where they will also construct a 25 KV Traction Power Substation (TPS).
Dr Kalemani said the work accomplished so far included the construction of 450 tower foundations out of the envisaged 455, the remaining five being due for completion by the end of this month.
He said the first phase of the project commenced in January 2019 and is expected to be completed at the end of this month, involving the construction of a power transmission line for electrifying SGR with four TPS – Pugu, Ruvu, Kidugalo and Kingolwira that has reached 94 per cent.
“At the moment the contractor is in the final stages at Kingolwira area, he promised that he would be through within 20 days; meaning that it will be completed ahead of schedule,” Dr Kalemani said.
The minister said once the construction of the 71.6bn/- transmission line was completed, it would enable Tanesco and SGR contractor to get time to test its efficiency before completion of the project.
He said completion of the project would speed up development activities of the country; Tanesco will be the largest client of Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC), which will also reduce operational costs, especially on fuel.
“This 1.6bn/- project is financed by the government of Tanzania by 100 per cent and the contractor has been paid on time through the Ministry of Finance and Planning,” said Dr Kalemani.
In another development, the minister instructed the power utility company and contractor to ensure that houses along the route in the villages are connected to electricity at a cost of 27,000/- per household and that it will enable the people in the area to be effective protectors of railways and Tanesco infrastructures.
In his report to the minister, Tanesco Deputy Managing Director Engineer Khalid James, said so far, the construction had reached 96 per cent of the working plan, and that once the work is completed, they will commence testing all four TPS.
“We will also connect it with Msamvu-Morogoro station; in case there will be a blackout in Dar es Salaam, other TPS will get electricity from Msamvu station and it is for the assurance of supply of electricity all the time while operating the train,” he said.
Tanzania decided to construct the 2,561 Kilometre Standard Gauge Railway network that links Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kigoma, Katavi and neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi and DRC.
Construction of Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway Network consists of five phases covering 1,219 Kilometres long main track.
As of March 5, 2020, the first phase of SGR construction had reached 75.8 per cent, but the estimates are now awaiting approval from the consultancy. The second lot has been completed by 25.8 per cent.
As per the contract details, the company undertaking the 2.7tri/- SGR project, YapiMerkez, was supposed to hand over the complete project by November 2019 but delays set in due to heavy rains, prompting engineers to wait until weather conditions stabilized.
