The
president of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete
congratulates the Wind East Africa team on the progress made with the Singida
100MW Wind Project after receiving an update on November 4th 2011 at the Singida
State House. Left to Right. Said Abdallah (Project Director), Simon Magesa
[Project Coordinator-Singida] Rashid Shamte (Founder -Project Director), Mark
Gammons (Project Director), Jayce Kaiser (Project coordinator) (Photo:/ State
House)
***********
IFC, a member of the
World Bank Group, is partnering with Aldwych and Six Telecoms to develop a 100
MW wind farm in Singida, Tanzania, enhancing power supply reliability,
decreasing the need for costly fuel imports, and helping fight climate
change.
Being developed by
Project Company Wind East Africa, the Singida project seeks to be the country’s
first successful, independent wind energy power project. This project is a
result of the government of Tanzania’s push for diverse energy sources, as
drafted in its recent policy on renewable energy.
The total project cost
for the wind farm is estimated at $285 million, of which IFC, Aldwych and Six
Telecoms will contribute $18 million during the development stage and $71
million in total equity.
Located 700 kilometres
from Dar es Salaam, the Singida wind farm will produce power through wind
turbines to help diversify Tanzania’s electricity away from hydropower. When the
hydropower supply drops during times of drought, Tanzania has had to turn to
costly emergency power. Wind energy is an innovative way to boost power supply,
with Singida expected to add 100 MW of capacity.
Singida will also
provide power at more stable cost, as tariffs for wind energy remain relatively
constant as no fuel source is required. The farm will be owned by Wind East
Africa and operated by a management company led by Aldwych and Six
Telecoms.
“IFC invested in Wind
East Africa’s Singida farm to support a pioneering energy project that can serve
as an example to the entire region,” said Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for East and
Southern Africa. “With growing demand for electricity in Africa’s economies,
independent power projects like Singida can add much-needed capacity to the
power grid. Aldwych International and Six Telecoms’ participation demonstrates
how the private sector can advance government efforts to increase energy
security.”
Mark Gammons, Project
Director for Aldwych, said, “Having been involved in the successful development
of the Songas gas to electricity project, Aldwych’s senior management team has
deep experience in and a strong belief in the Tanzanian market. We believe this
ground-breaking project will help develop the Tanzanian power sector and also
the local economy around Singida.”
Rashid Shamte, Founder
and Head of Group Strategy at Six Telecoms, said, “As a Tanzanian company in
telecoms, we were faced with the challenge of deciding how to best diversify our
portfolio. The crippling power rationing in our country presented Six Telecoms
with a great challenge in our operations, so this project was a compelling
option.
He said Six Telecoms
applauds the leadership of TANESCO and the government of Tanzania for initiating
the wind measurement campaign in selected areas of the country, for making the
wind data available to all interested parties, and for welcoming private sector
participation in the energy sector. We are lucky to have experienced partners
such as Aldwych and IFC leading our efforts in this
project.”
In addition to the
investment, IFC will assist in the overall project development. IFC will lend
its experience and expertise to project structuring process and to ensure that
the project meets the appropriate environmental and social
standards.
IFC is making this
investment through its InfraVentures division, which was created in 2008 to
support innovative infrastructure projects. IFC InfraVentures addresses
constraints to private investment in infrastructure, including the limited
availability of funds and experienced professionals.
Increasing
access to power is at the heart of IFC’s strategy for sub-Saharan Africa. IFC
invested $1 billion in infrastructure projects in Africa in fiscal year 2012, up
from $200 million five years ago
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