7 May 2008
Maputo — Tanzania is considering negotiating for the purchase of electricity from the Cahora Bassa dam (HCB), in Mozambique's western province of Tete province, to face the growing demand for power.
Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said in Maputo on Tuesday that his country is currently facing serious problems of electricity supply. He was speaking shortly after a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart, Luisa Diogo, where they discussed issues related to the political and economic situation in both countries.
Pinda did not give any further details about the power issue, saying only that Tanzania is currently importing electricity from Zambia, and is considering supplementing these supplies by importing also from Mozambique.
Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the dam operating company, might have some difficulty in fulfilling any request from Tanzania. There are five giant turbines at Cahora Bassa, each capable of generating 415 megawatts, so the maximum power output from the dam is 2,075 megawatts - and most of this is already committed.
Currently HCB supplies 1,350 megawatts to the South African electricity company, Eskom, 400 megawatts to Mozambique's own electricity distribution company, EDM, 200 megawatts to Zimbabwe and 35 to 40 megawatts to Botswana. This leaves, at most, a spare 80 megawatts for other potential clients (who include Malawi and Zambia as well as Tanzania),
Commenting on other issues discussed during his meeting with Diogo, Pinda described the political situation in his country as "stable", and political parties are doing their work "normally".
"We have some basic problems in the education sector, at primary and secondary levels", he said. Pinda is in Maputo to take part in the eighth biennial meeting of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
In 2005, work began on building the "Unity Bridge" over the Rovuma river, which forms the border between the two countries. This project, costed at 25 million US dollars, is not dependent on foreign aid, and is funded by the two countries out of their own state budgets. It should be completed by the end of this year.
Pinda said that this bridge is set to speed up and deepen the existing good economic relations between Mozambique and Tanzania.
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