Tedzani III Unit 5 still offline
* Remains with shortfall of 31MW due to the ongoing outage of Tedzani 111 Unit 5 hydro power generating machine
* EGENCO awaiting engineers from Austrian company, Original Equipment Manufacturer to repair the unit later this month
By Duncan Mlanjira
Less than 24 hours since it announced loss of 51 megawatts (MW) of hydro power was off the national grid due to ongoing repair works to machines, Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) says it has successfully brought back online 20MW that was off at Nkula B plant.
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Yesterday, EGENCO reported that 20MW of Nkula B Unit 5 and 31MW of Tedzani 111 Unit 5 hydropower plants were off the grid but in a statement a while ago, it indicates that Nkula B Unit 5 has been restored to full capacity as of 19h25 last evening.
According to EGENCO, Nkula Unit 5 failed to start upon restoration after replacement of turbine shaft seal which commenced last Friday, October 31 and completed on Monday evening while Tedzani III Unit 5 has been offline since December 2024 due to burnt generator stator windings.
Thus, the national grid still has a 31MW shortfall as EGENCO awaits engineers from Austrian company, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to arrive and repair the unit later this month.
The company is now generating a total production of 367.35MW as opposed to 347.35MW as of yesterday, impacted by the dual machine outage and soon to have a total of 378.35 once OEM engineers bring Tedzani 111 Unit 5 back to life.
Nkula Power Station
EGENCO management also added that they were facing challenges on diesel generators — which supplement power generation capacity in times of high demand or insufficient hydro generation capacity — but was affected by scarcity of diesel fuel.
However, Minister of Ministry of Information & Communications Technology, Shadric Namalomba announced this morning that government has already taken decisive action to normalise the situation, emphasising that it “is firmly on top of the matter”.
“The challenge has resulted mainly from logistical disruptions along the main supply routes through Tanzania,” Namalomba said, adding that “deliveries are currently being processed, and normal fuel supply is expected to resume shortly”.
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