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UK minister upbeat wind power project [Citizen, The (Tanzania)](Citizen, The (Tanzania) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dar es Salaam. A British company Aldwych International and its Tanzanian partner Six telecoms Company are at an advanced stage of establishing a major wind power project in Singida region to improve power supply to the north and north-west regions of Tanzania. The project valued at $285 million (about Sh456 billion) will be the first wind farm in Tanzania and has been on the card for several years now. It will supply 100MW of reliable, low cost wind power to the Tanzanian national grid. This is equivalent to approximately 7 per cent of the current installed electricity generating capacity in Tanzania. Mr Greg Barker, the visiting British Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) spoke of the high expectation on the successful rollout of the project. In an exclusive interview with The Citizen yesterday, Mr Barker who was in the country for a two-day-official visit said the UK government would strengthen its continued support to the government of Tanzania in various development projects. He earlier held talks in State House with President Jakaya Kikwete. In Tanzania, the UK is supporting the development of green mini grids to provide electricity in rural areas. "We are helping catalyse private sector investment in renewable energy through the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) and Renewable Energy Adaptation Climate Technologies (REACT). This will result in an additional 220,000 rural households having access to environmentally-friendly and modern energy supply,'' he said. There is currently no wind farm of this scale in operation in East Africa. Neighbouring Kenya was also exploring a similar wind power venture. This project will further cement the UK's reputation for expertise in developing large infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa. In March the Tanzanian Ministry for Energy and Minerals signed a letter of support for construction of the 100MW Singida wind farm, led by Aldwych International. The letter confirms the project is on the priority list under the President's Big Results Now (BRN) initiative. The project received its Provisional Electricity License in December 2011. Aldwych will recoup the capital cost through tariff payments over the 20 year lifespan of the project. The British Minister further said his country was still looking on opportunities for joint partnership with Tanzanian government particularly on renewable energy. Yesterday, he paid President Jakaya Kikwete a courtesy call at state house where they had conversations on various issues concerning energy and climate change. The UK has invited Tanzania to participate in a Clean Energy Finance Summit taking place in London from June 3-4. The conference will launch a new generation of financial instruments. The support according to Mr Barker aims to unlock investment and scale up private financial flows to climate projects in developing countries. "The conference will bring together donor countries, developers of clean energy and ministers from developing countries amongst others. It will facilitate closer dialogue on mobilising finances as well as making commitments for low carbon growth,'' he added. According to him, In addition to supporting Tanzania's green energy sector, the UK would also work closely with Tanzania in the international climate negotiations to achieve a new global deal in 2015. This is critical to ensuring that average temperatures do not rise above 2 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels. (c) 2014 Mwananchi Communications . All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |