TANESCO Headquarters, Ubungo
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The Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) is a Tanzanian parastatal organisation established in 1964. It is wholly owned by the
government of Tanzania The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary state, unitary presidential system, presidential Democracy, democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party ...
. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals regulates the operations of TANESCO. Its business include:
electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transm ...
,
electricity transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...
,
electricity distribution Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity. Electricity is carried from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission ...
and sale of electricity to the Tanzanian mainland and bulk power supply to the island of
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
. The company has a workforce of 7,300 persons. Its main offices are located in
Ubungo Ubungo District, officially the, Ubungo Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Ubungo'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of five Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The Kinondoni District and K ...
west of
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...
central business district and it operates regional offices throughout
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.


History


Predecessor

Electricity was first introduced in Tanzania ( Tanganyika) in 1908 by the German colonial authorities in
Dar-es-salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...
. After the British mandate was established a Government electricity department was formed and took over energy generation and transmission in the colony. In 1931 electricity was handed to two private companies, Tanganyika Electric Supply Company Ltd. (Tanesco) and Dar es Salaam and District Electric Supply Company Ltd (Danesco). Commercial operations for Tanesco began in 1933 with the first diesel generator in the
Tanga Region Tanga Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the municipalit ...
. The first dam was completed in 1936 on the
Pangani River The Pangani River (''Mto Pangani'', in Swahili language, Swahili), (also called Luffu and Jipe Ruvu, especially in older sources, and probably once called Rhaptus) is a major river of northeastern Tanzania. It has two main sources: the Ruvu Jip ...
. By 1959 the total capacity was 17.5MW and the company had 400 km of supply lines. On 12 February 1948 Tanesco secured the contract to sell surplus power from the hydro dam to
Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, Kenya.


Post Independence

At independence (1961) the government acquired some shares from both of the utilities. However, with Tanzania's economic policy shifting towards
Ujamaa Ujamaa ( in Swahili language, Swahili) was a Socialism, socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic Economic development, development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. Mor ...
, by 1975 the government acquired all the shares and merged the two utilities to form a state own utility called the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd. From 1975 the firm responsible for generating, transmitting and distributing power on the mainland. Furthermore, Tanesco is also responsible in selling bulk electricity to
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
based ZECO Electric Company.


Reform

The government liberalised private sector investment in electricity generation in 1992. In 2002 as part of the Companies Act, 2002 of Tanzania, Tanesco was incorporated as a limited liability company; however all its shares were still held by the government. Due to the high dependence on Hydroelectric dams and poor hydrology between 2005 and 2008, Tanesco lead to the procurement of their first Emergency Power Project (EPP). The first EPP was the expansion of the Ubungo Power Station with Songas. From 2011 to 2013 TANESCO experienced a shortage of power generation due to poor hydrology and again procurement of costly EPPs was then undertaken. By the end of 2016, TANESCO sought an increase by 8.53 percent of the energy tariff, due to its difficult financial situation. In 2017, The president
John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from ...
, dismissed the raise firing the director manager of TANESCO Felchesmi Mramba.


Corporate Affairs


Management

Tanesco's management operations is conducted at their headquarters ''Umeme Park'' and is located in
Ubungo Ubungo District, officially the, Ubungo Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Ubungo'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of five Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The Kinondoni District and K ...
,
Dar es salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...
. The Management of the company is under the managing director. Currently the managing director is Eng.
Boniface Gissima Nyamo-Hanga Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church in ...
appointed by the president
Samia Suluhu Hassan Samia Suluhu Hassan ( ; born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who serves as the sixth and current president of Tanzania since 19 March 2021. She is the first woman to serve in the position and previously served as vice-president of ...
in September 2023. The company is organised under the following business units: Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Customer Services, Investment, Finance, Information, Communication and Technology, Human Resources and the Legal Counsel.


Ownership

The Tanzania Electric Supply company ltd. is wholly owned by the Government of Tanzania. It is a public corporation governed by the Public Corporations Act, revised edition 2002. There has been much debate to either privatise the company or list the company on the Dar-es-salaam Stock Exchange. The government however encourages the public sector to enter the market and compete with Tanesco, however, the government is adamant to maintain its public status to help keep the cost of electricity always low for the majority of the population.


Business trends

The key trends for TANESCO's consolidated Group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 30 June):


Operations

TANESCO's core business are: to generate, transmit, distribute and supply electricity in Tanzanian mainland and sell bulk power to
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
. The following is the overview of Tanesco's operations : Generation Capacity in the interconnected grid system: *Total Hydro Power: 561 MW *Total gas fired power plants: 544 MW (only 320 MW is operational) *Total liquid fuel fired power plants: 210 MW with 50 MW capacity on short term rental basis *Total of 18 isolated mini-grids with total installed capacity of 82 MW. Out of these two mini-grids with installed capacity of 29 MW is running on natural gas while the remaining 15 mini-grids with total installed of capacity of 53 MW are diesel generators. Transmission network: *48 grid substations interconnected by transmission lines *2732 km of 220 kV lines *1555 km of 132 kV lines *578 km of 66 kV lines Distribution network: *11,124 distribution transformers *17,021 km of 3 3 kV lines, 5,375 km of 11 kV lines


Import and Export

Tanesco has to import a small amount of its energy from
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
and
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
to supply the needs of the bordering regions that are not connected to the national grid. Currently Tanzania only exports electricity to
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
near the Horo Horo region, and the
Isinya–Singida High Voltage Power Line The Isinya–Singida High Voltage Power Line is a high voltage electricity power line, under construction, connecting the high voltage substation at Isinya, Kenya to another high voltage substation at Singida, Tanzania. Location The power line ...
is under construction. With the recent expansion of the Gas Sector in Tanzania the company has major plans to increase exports to neighbouring countries.


Small Power Projects


Overview

In 2009 the Government through Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) approved Small Power Project framework. Since the Government didn't have
Renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
policy in place nor did they have any major plans for energy generation through renewable fuels, the government encouraged
Renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...
projects (mini hydro, biomass, solar and wind) with capacity range between 0.1 MW to 10 MW to be developed. Since introduction of SPPs only mini hydro and biomass power projects are in operation; the high cost of setup, fluctuating foreign exchange prices and low tariffs have discouraged investment. The SPP framework also ties in with The Rural Energy Agency (REA) and they are responsible for financing of rural electrification projects. This is mainly extension of grid connected and mini-grid connected distribution network to the rural areas.


Tariffs

Small power producers are allowed to sell their power directly to the consumer and sell the excess to Tanesco. However, the tariffs of sale have been decided by Tanesco to maintain public interest. Below is a table showing the possible tariff cases an SPP can engage in; an SPP can engage in one case or a combination of many.


Luku

One of the major challenges the firm faced was revenue collection. With thousands of customers defaulting on their electricity payments, Tanesco planned to establish a convenient prepaid metering system for low demand users. Tanesco undertook a prepayment metering project between 1993 and 1997 though world bank funding. The new program was referred to as "Lipa Umeme Kadiri Utumiavyo"(LUKU) meaning "Pay for electricity as you need it" in English. The system allows users to recharge their units from multiple vendors in their communities plus the ability to purchase units using their mobile money accounts. Currently the installation of these meters is restricted to domestic, light industrial and light commercial customers.


Gallery

Electricity Pylon.jpg, An Electricity Pylon Ubungo Power Plant.jpg, The
Ubungo Ubungo District, officially the, Ubungo Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Ubungo'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of five Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The Kinondoni District and K ...
Power Plant


See also

*
List of power stations in Tanzania The following page lists all power stations in Tanzania. Hydroelectric Thermal Wind See also * List of power stations in Africa * List of largest power stations in the world References External links Overview of Electrical Power ...
*
Economy of Tanzania An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
*
Electric utility An electric utility, or a power company, is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. Electric utilities are ...


References


External links

*
Tanesco to go public in Tanzania plan to free energy sector
{{authority control Electric power companies of Tanzania Government-owned companies of Tanzania Dar es Salaam Non-renewable resource companies established in 1964 1964 establishments in Tanzania