With high winds potential that cover more than 10% of its land and solar energy levels ranging from 2800 to 3500 h of sunshine per year and a global horizontal radiation of 4–7 kWh/m2/day, Tanzania is just a step away from becoming a reckonable giant of renewable energy and leap jumping into a clean future
By Moses Kulaba, Governance Analysis Centre
Tanzania, like other developing countries, is striving to adopt different ways of ensuring affordable and accessible energy supply to its socioeconomic and political sectors to achieve renewable energy development. To secure affordable and accessible energy in the country, renewable energy is termed as an alternative energy source because of it is environmentally friendly. If renewable energy is produced and utilized in a modern and sustainable manner, it will help to eliminate energy problems in Tanzania
According to reports, Tanzania has a lot of renewable energy sources such as biomass, solar, hydropower, geothermal, biogas, wind, tidal, and waves. These sources are important for decentralized renewable energy technologies, which nurture the isolated nature of the settlements and are environmentally friendly. Despite their necessity, renewable energy sources are given low priority by both government and Households[1].
Tanzania’s power sector is dominated by state-owned TANESCO (Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Limited). TANESCO owns most of the country’s transmission and distribution network, and more than half of its generating capacity. Tanzania’s electricity generation comes mostly from natural gas (48%), followed by hydro (31%), petrol (18%) with solar (1%), and biofuels (1%). The traditional dependence on hydropower combined with the droughts that are affecting the country, often result in power supply shortages[2].
The World Economic Forum (WEF) reported the total sum of global investment into renewable energy has increased. This was supported by a 28% annual increase in investment from the United States (U.S), in 2019 totalling $54.6 billion[3]. Renewables cannot totally replace fossils such as oil, but increased investment shows increased potential contribution in the energy mix. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates annual clean energy investments will more than triple by 2030.
With its vast resources and location, there are opportunities for investment in its abundant solar and wind potentials. Perhaps, it is argued, the country can leverage its strategic position to scale up investment to generate more and at the same time position as a major supplier and user of renewable energy sources.
However, there are gaps such as financing, infrastructure, storage, and government facilitation which potentially limit investment, scale up, use and benefiting from this potential. The cost for initial investment is high and the returns on investment could be slow. Exploration efforts have largely emphasized hydropower projects, and other renewable energy such as solar, thermal, wind, biomass, and biogas are under-utilized due to different socioeconomic and political reasons
Further, some of African political leaders, such as expressed by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, have argued that renewable energy is not sustainable to meet the future global population energy demands. It cannot even meet or drive Africa’s development agenda. Renewable energies such as solar and wind are largely dependent on whether and climatic factors. A solar farm requires huge tracts of land, and this can or may potentially spark off a new wave of land grabbing by solar energy investors and land conflict across the continent. Africa could also be a bystander in renewable energy technology. For Africa to benefit, investment in technologies and production of equipment, such as solar panels and wind turbines must be on the continent.
But CSOs such as power shift Africa and Anti Coal Coalition[4] argue that investment in renewable energy is economically viable, will create jobs and increase access to energy to the poor and rural areas where access to the national could be difficult. Significantly, it will help Tanzania achieve its domestic transition and unlocking the country from a fossil future.
The government, along with other renewable energy stakeholders, should complement existing policies and strategies to address issues related to renewable energy development to ensure timely and sustainable utilization of the available resources. Also, there is the need to provide a sound business and investment environment to local and foreign people who can provide capital towards renewable energy technologies and development. There should be more training and awareness made available to the public about how to invest and use renewable energy. Tanzania can and must benefit from the transition by upscaling its potential and starting to roll out implementation. Stalled projects should be implemented.
Tanzania’s potential in Wind and Solar Energy
Wind energy
Tanzania has areas of high wind potential that cover more than 10% of its land[5]. This is equivalent in size to Malawi and has greater potential than the US state of California, as reported by the World Bank report. There are areas with annual average wind speeds of 5–8 m/s[6] . These exist along a coastline of about 800 km with predominant surface winds, moving from south-east to northeast. Based on the current research works, Tanzania has a lot of wind energy resources in the areas of Great Lakes, the plains, and the highland plateau regions of the Rift Valley. Wind energy evaluation indicates that areas such as Makambako (Njombe) and Kititimo (Singida) have sufficient wind speed for grid-scale electricity generation, with average of wind speeds 8.9 m/s and 9.9 m/s at the height of 30 m, respectively[7]. Small-scale off-grid wind turbines along the coastline and in the islands also possess great potential in Tanzania.
By 2017, at least four companies had expressed interest in investing in wind energy in Tanzania to build wind plants with a capacity of more than 50 MW. These companies include Geo-Wind Tanzania Ltd in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Wind East Africa in Singida, Tanzania; and Sino Tan Renewable Energy Ltd. and Wind Energy Tanzania Ltd. in Makambako, Tanzania. Wind farms with capacities of 100 MW in Singida would be constructed under the corporation of the Six Telecoms Company in Singida, Tanzania; International Finance Corporation in Washington DC, The United States of America; and Aldwych International in London, the United Kingdom. The project would cost US$286 million[8]. Compared to other renewable energy resources that attract investment, most of the people have been trying without success to produce electricity from the wind energy. Thus, only the government and private companies are the ones who are involved in power generation assessments from wind energy resources[9] [66]
Solar Energy
In Tanzania, solar energy is used as a source of power by 24.7% of the households with access to electricity. Potential solar energy resources are found in the central parts of the country[10] [1]. There are high solar energy levels ranging from 2800 to 3500 h of sunshine per year and a global horizontal radiation of 4–7 kWh/m2/day [1,70]. According to the World Bank, Tanzania has a solar energy potential greater than that of Spain and wind energy potential greater than that of the US State of California. With such great potential for solar energy resources, Tanzania is naturally appropriate for producing solar energy as a feasible alternative source for modern energy supply and rural electrification.
The solar energy market in Tanzania has drastically grown and increased over the last few years. Currently, the potential solar energy resources in Tanzania are used in different parts such as solar thermal for heating and drying and photovoltaic for lighting, water pumps, refrigeration purposes, and telecommunication. Solar energy is used mostly in rural areas with about 64.8% compared to urban areas with only 3.4%. The regions of Lindi, Njombe, Mtwara, Katavi, and Ruvuma lead in the use of solar power electricity in Tanzania[11]. Despite the increasing market for solar energy applications, there are fewer signs that the government is expecting to include solar PV in the national electricity mix in any substantial way in the future
[1] Obadia Kyetuza Bishoge: The Potential Renewable Energy for Sustainable
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[2] https://www.trade.gov/energy-resource-guide-tanzania-renewable-energy
[3] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/global-clean-energy-investment-research/
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/01/african-nations-set-to-make-the-case-for-big-rise-in-fossil-fuel-output#:~:text=African%20nations%20expected%20to%20make%20case%20for%20big%20rise%20in%20fossil%20fuel%20output,-Exclusive%3A%20leaders%20expected&text=Leaders%20of%20African%20countries%20are,documents%20seen%20by%20the%20Guardian.
[5] Tanzania Invest. Tanzania Has High Potential For Renewable Energy Projects, US Consulting Firm Indicates. TanzaniaInvest. 2015. Available online: https://www.tanzaniainvest.com/energy/tanzaniahas-high-potential-for-renewable-energy-re-projects (accessed on 15 April 2018).
[6] Kasasi, A.; Kainkwa, R. Assessment of wind energy potential for electricity generation in Setchet, Hanang, Tanzania. Tanz. J. Sci. 2002, 28, 1–7.
[7] Energy Charter Secretariat. Tanzanian Energy Sector under the Universal Principles of the Energy Charter. 2015. Available online: https://energycharter.org/fileadmin/DocumentsMedia/CONEXO/20150827- Tanzania_Pre-Assessment_Report.pdf (accessed on 8 May 2018)
[8] The Minister of Energy. The Speech of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals on the Estimates of the Revenue and Expenditure for Financial Year 2018/2019. 2018. Available online: https://www.nishati.go.tz/hotubaya-bajeti-ya-wizara-ya-nishati-kwa-mwaka-2018-19/ (accessed on 15 January 2018)
[9] The Economist. A World Turned Upside Down—Renewable Energy. 2017. Available online: https://www. economist.com/briefing/2017/02/25/a-world-turned-upside-down (accessed on 4 May 2018).
[10] Sarakikya, H. Renewable energy policies and practice in Tanzania: Their contribution to Tanzania economy and poverty alleviation. Int. J. Energy Power Eng. 2015, 4, 333. [CrossRef]
[11] https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/33pc-of-Tanzanians-have-access-to-electricity–report/1840340-3900298-9elccaz/index.html