NSSF power project on course

By ORTON KIISHWEKO,  THE 150MW National Social Security Fund (NSSF) power project is likely to get a boost of $100m (160bn/-) in the ongoing bidding process. In an interview on Sunday , the NSSF Procurement Manager, Ms Amina Abdallah, confirmed that the bids have reached advanced stages and that they would be announced before the year ends. "I cannot give details since we are in the last stages but this should come before the year ends," she said. Four companies have submitted bids for the tender including BGR Energy (Siemens Machines) $183,520,000, Megawatt (Rolls Royce machine): $155, 273,820); Megawatt (GE machine): $177,901,620; and Isolux Corsan: $143,987,200.  In an interview, Megawatt Power's Chief Executive Officer Mr Joseph Adir said: "My company has $100m of finance readily available for the project. We have been working in the country for the last 12 months to bring them in," he said. According to Mr Adir, the Rolls Royce technology, is designed to save the country more than $30m every year in fuel costs. In another bid, Megawatt Power has proposed state-of-the-art, six GE TM2500+ mobile power plants -- each of the plants is capable of producing ISO 26.5MW of power utilizing gas, diesel or jet fuels. "These mobile power plants can be flown into the country within 48 hours", he said. Mr Adir reiterated Megawatt Power's commitment to community development in Tanzania via its 'Turn On The Light' initiative, which provides rural communities with high-tech SolarWind hybrid micro generator solutions that help produce free electricity. The power project was recently broadened from an emergency plan to a long-term undertaking, in a shift which the NSSF director for Planning, Investment and Projects, Mr Yacoub Kidula, recently said had been occasioned by the fact that the emergency aspect has ceased to be as pressing as it was when they drew the original plan. He said the procured turbines would be installed in Mkuranga, Coast Region, and be connected to the national power grid managed by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco). Initially, the plan was to install the turbines at the Ubungo facility on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam city, but it was shelved due to inadequate space. Tanesco Public Relations Manager, Ms Badra Masoud, confirmed that the two entities had agreed on the new location for the turbines. NSSF was on the list of institutions tasked to produce power on an emergency basis. In August this year, the government unveiled its plans to raise 1.24 trn/- for emergency power generation to save the country from lengthy power rationing schedules. The plan, made public in Parliament by Energy and Minerals Minister William Ngeleja, included importation of 205MW by Symbion Power and 100MW by Aggreko International. The two firms are privately owned with the former having bought off the controversial Dowans company. According to the minister, NSSF was supposed to import generators with a capacity of 150MW at a cost of $162 million (over Sh243 billion). The generators were initially scheduled to land in the country by last month.

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