Tanzania, Africa- Tanzania has constructed a hydropower plant in the northern region of Kagera to diversify national electricity.
The 87.8 MW facility is being co-financed with the sum of US$276.2 million by the French Development Agency (AFD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Union (EU).
The French Development Agency (AFD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will contribute the sum of USD 120.7 million and USD 116 million respectively to finance the construction of the Kakono hydropower plant in Tanzania. The loans will be used to build the power plant and will be repaid by the Tanzanian government within 17 years.
The European Union (EU) has also granted the Tanzanian government a $39.5 million to fund the construction. The project will be delivered by 31st December 2028 by the state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO). The hydropower plant will come with a dam on the Kagera River to supply clean energy to the residents.
“The Kakono Hydropwer plant will replace the usage of fossil fuels in north-western Tanzania, diesel generators are expensive and are often used to augment the quality of electricity supply and to avoild grid supply or improve the quality of supply to avoid continuous situations of interrupted electricity supply.
“The Kakono plant will develop about 524 GWh per year and this power will be transmitted through a 38.5 km long 220 kV transmission line to the existing Kyaka substation,” says the AfDB, represented in the East African country by Patricia Laverley.
The Kakono hydropower plant, which is expected to avoid annual emissions of 216,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), will also be a hub for Tanzania’s electricity exports to neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region, including Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda.
According to AFD, the commissioning of this facility will contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ 7th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which calls for the development of renewable energy.
