SADC: First Phase of Regional Power Interconnector Project Nears Completion
Posted on :Friday , 8th April 2016
The first phase of the 2 300 km regional power interconnector project that will link Zambia – Tanzania and Kenya (ZTK) power grids is expected to be completed by December this year in a development that is set to boost SADC power and the African Union’s thrust for continental integration.
The Chinese development package is into 10 areas that include infrastructure projects, aid for drought-stricken countries and thousands of scholarships for African students.
The Chinese government has also promised to cancel outstanding debts for Africa’s least developed countries in the form of zero interest loans that mature at the end of 2015.
In a report released recently, COMESA Energy Expert Dr Seif Elnasr Mohamedain said the first phase that covers sections of the project in each of the three countries were on course and will be completed as expected by the end of the year.
He said feasibility studies for the Mbeya (Tanzania) – Kasama – Kabwe (Zambia) sections of the project are on course with July 2016 as the expected date of completion.
“This project has been taken up by the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite grouping which is fast tracking the implementation process and they have managed to secure funding for the preparatory activities,” said Dr Mohamedain adding that COMESA was taking the lead in this effort.
The European Union has provided a total of 4,4 million euros to finance the preparatory activities of the project.
“It is expected that consultancy services to undertake complementary studies on power trade volumes, wheeling arrangements and impact of the ZTK project on interconnected network will commence by April 2016 after the bids are evaluated,” he said.
“This study will facilitate energy trade among the Eastern and Southern African countries.”
COMESA is now preparing to hold a financiers conference to lobby and secure finance for the construction of the remaining sections of the ZTK namely Iringa– Mbeya-Tunduma (Tanzania) Nakonde–Kasama–Pensulo-Kabwe (Zambia).
Dr Mohamedain says the conference will take place in the second half of 2016.
Last year in December, Zambia commissioned the 381km, 330kV Kasama-Pensulo section, built at a cost of US$153 million.
Construction of the 442km, 400kV Singinda–Iringa section of the backbone transmission investment project in Tanzania and a key part of the ZTK, is expected to be completed in June this year.
The idea of the regional interconnector was first mooted by Zambia and Tanzania in the 1960s.
This also led to the construction of the US$500 million TAZARA Railway – commonly referred to as the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway – a railroad linking the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia’s Central Province.
The 1 860km single-track railway was built by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) from 1970 to 1975 with financial support from China.
Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia signed a power deal in 2014 to link the three countries and make commitments to ensure completion of phase one of the ZTK by end of 2016.
Energy ministers from the three countries have set December 2018 as the date of commissioning phase two of the project.
Under the deal, each country will build infrastructure within its boundaries and have in place a project management unit with Zambia undertaking the overall coordination.
The countries were also required to establish trading mechanisms.
Once the ZTK power interconnector project is successfully completed, it will help meet the immediate and future power demand in the region by linking the East African Power Pool (EAPP) and the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).
The ZTK project was first proposed in 1995 as a Zambia–Tanzania interconnector and later became ZTK power interconnector project in 2001, when Kenya joined the project.
Costs for the construction of the ZTK interconnector are estimated to reach up to US$1,4 billion depending on the configuration and implementation of the energy project.
Part of the money was secured through the COMESA Contribution Agreement and financed through the 10th European Development Fund.
Three regional economic blocs – COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and SADC have taken up the implementation of the power connector project.
The ZTK interconnector project is expected to bring massive benefits to the three regional blocs – securing enough and stable power needed to propel industrial production, investment, new employment and stabilising the economies.
The project will also facilitate trade in power in order to reduce average energy production costs.
It is also expected to offer improved reliability and security for power supply to both Southern and Eastern Africa and meet the immediate and future power demand.
Energy experts also say that when operational, the project is expected to reduce standby reserves and improve economies of scale.
Southern African countries have identified nine high priority energy transmission projects valued at more than US$4 billion for promotion and marketing to investors.
SADC says the nine projects are at various stages of development and include the flagship ZiZaBoNa Interconnector Project to be implemented by Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.
Other energy projects to be prioritised include the Central Transmission Corridor (CTC), the Mozambique Backbone Project, the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Interconnector as well as the proposed Namibia-Angola Interconnector that will connect Tanzania and Angola to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
The Southern African Power Pool is coordinating the planning, generation, transmission and marketing of electricity on behalf of Sadc member states.
The ZiZaBoNa project is a shining model of regional cooperation and integration and analysts say that upon its completion, it will go a long way in ensuring that most SADC countries are able to share surplus energy.
Under the ZiZaBoNa agreement signed in 2008, power utilities of all four countries are expected to finance parts of the project that fall within their national boundaries through their own power utilities.
SAPP says the initial capacity of the transmission interconnector will be 300 megawatts (MW), which will be increased later to 600MW.
Most countries in the region are facing challenges in meeting energy requirements due to growth in demand, forcing most countries to implement Demand Side Management (DSM) programmes such as load shedding.
Observers say while load shedding has succeeded in restraining the overall electricity demand in the region to some extent, the measure has also affected socio-economic growth since the availability of energy is one of the key enablers of sustainable development, and is essential to the industrialization agenda.
It has an average 36 percent electrification rate and an average of three percent of electricity growth rate.
The SAPP network has been a major contributor to the increase in the Sadc electricity reserves and exchange of energy during emergencies across all states.
The 12-member Southern African Power Pool has a total operating capacity of 46 910 MW and a total demand plus reserve of 55 157 MW.
The region has energy equivalent to 350 Terawatt hour (TWh) and a regional capacity shortfall of 8 247 MW.
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