Morogoro — Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) is unveiling 70 Megawatts of electricity to power the first phase of the standard gauge railway (SGR) set to start operations in the coming few months.
Energy minister Medard Kalemani told editors here yesterday that actual construction of power lines between Dar es Salaam (Kinyerezi) and Morogoro (Kingorwira) was complete and that the 70MW would be immediately availed to Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) as soon as it (TRC) gets ready to start run its electricity-powered SGR trains between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro.
“We have invested Sh71.1 billion in building the necessary power infrastructure for the first phase of the SGR. The project is done by 100 percent,” he said, detailing a number of other projects that the government has implemented in the energy sector.
He was gracing Tanesco workshop run for editors from Friday.
Dr Kalemani, who doubles as Chato lawmaker, allayed fears that SGR train operations could be disrupted in times of power cuts, saying the locomotives being imported will be those that have inbuilt power-saving systems to will keep them charged for not less than one hour.
“Firstly, power disruptions will be reduced but secondly, the locomotives will run in such a way that they are able to keep themselves powered for an hour to two from the time that a power cut happens,” said Dr Kalemani.
