Nyerere Dam to be Commissioned by End 2024

The Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) is nearing completed and is expected to go online by the end of 2024. Egyptian firms El-Sewedy Electric and Arab Contractors Company form a joint venture (JV) and kicked off construction in 2019.

Costing USD 2.9 billion, the dam spans 1,025 meters across Rufiji River and a height of 130 meters. The dam can hold approximately 34 billion cubic meters of water. Funding originates from the Tanzanian government own funds. During construction, up to 8,000 Tanzanians and 1,000 Egyptians were employed at various stages of the project.

The HPP is rated with a 2115 MW capacity with bank of nine 235 MW Francis turbines. A 400 kV substation and associated transmission line is part of the scope of the project.

The electricity produced is meant for both local use with the excess sold to the regional market via the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP). As a matter of fact, Tanzania form parts of the 11-country Nile Basin Countries.