Tanzania will start construction next year of a $3-billion coal and iron-ore mine and a 600-MW coal-fired power plant, a State development agency spokesperson said on Thursday.
The projects, on a site some 900 km southwest of Dar es Salaam, planned under a joint venture deal with a Chinese company.
They are part of plans to increase the east African country’s coal-fired power generation capacity and exports, exploiting its five-billion-tonne coal reserves.
East Africa‘s second-biggest economy suffers from frequent blackouts due to supply shortfalls, forcing most businesses and wealthy people to have stand-by generators, and is trying to ease the constraints cited as a barrier to economic growth.
China‘s Sichuan Hongda Co Ltd signed a $3-billion deal with Tanzania in 2011 to mine coal and iron-ore and build the coal-fired power plant, a deal that marked China‘s growing economic presence in the country.
By: Reuters
Photo: Duane Daws
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/tanzania-says-to-start-work-in-2015-on-3bn-mining-power-projects-2014-09-25
