Dar es Salaam to increase power supply

15 Dec, 2013

20 new power stations planned

Five new substations and 15 mini-substations are to be built around Dar es Salaam as part of plans to stabilise the city's power supply.

The new plants will supplement the five existing substations which are unreliable and no longer sufficent for the needs of the almost five million inhabitants of Dar es Salaam.

The current power supply infrastructure dates back to the establishment of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) in 1964, and was designed to cater for only about half a million people. The energy ministry described it as "aged and inadequate" and blamed it for the regular power outages.

The power substations currently serving Dar es Salaam are at Ubungo, Tegeta, Kipawa, Ilala and Makumbusho, while the new ones will be installed at Kinyerezi, Gongolamboto, City Centre, Kurasini and Mbagala.