20 October 2006, by PowerNell. The public relations manager of Tanesco clarified yesterday that the imminent close down of Kidatu power plant will not affect Arusha and the entire Kilimanjaro, which are not on the country"s national power grid (This Day, 20 October, 2006), but get their power from Pangani river, through the hydropower stations at Nyumba ya Mungu Dam (The Guardian, 19 October, 2006). However The Guardian expects Arusha and Kilimanjaro also "likely to be affected by long hours of darkness" after experts said the Nyumba ya Mungu hydropower plant was generating just 2 MW instead of the maximum capacity of 8 MW.
 

Pangani river basin

The other two hydropower stations at the Pangani river basin also produce under their capacity: The New Pangani Falls generated 50 mw (instead of 68 MW) and Hale 5 MW (instead of 21 MW). On the same day however Daily News reports that Tanesco has increased power generation at the New Pangani Falls hydro power station from 17 to 50 MW following short rains in Tanga, Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions (Daily News, 19 October, 2006). According to Daily News the generated hydropower in the country is currently 206 MW (Daily News, 20 October, 2006 – see last column).

Hydropower plant	Maximum capacity	Capacity March 17	Current capacity
Mtera Dam	80 MW	11 MW	0 MW
Kidatu	200 MW	50 MW	24 MW
Kihansi Falls	180 MW	33 MW	125 MW
Nyumba ya Mungu Dam	8 MW	1.8 MW	2 MW
New Pangani Falls	68 MW	8 MW	50 MW
Hale Dam	21 MW	5 MW	5 MW
Total	561 MW	108,8 MW	206 MW

Related articles:
The Guardian, Adam Ihucha, 19 October 2006: Strong warning issued over dying Pangani
The Guardian, Tryphone Mweji, 19 October 2006: Mwanza, Arusha, Singida face total darkness
Daily News, Charles Kizigha, October 19, 2006: Richmond contract hangs in balance as gas turbine fails to arrive
The Guardian, 20 October, 2006: Govt elbows Tanesco out of search for power solution
Daily News, Charles Kizigha, 20 October, 2006: PM, top power sector officials meet
 
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