Reports Leo Odera Omolo
INFORMATION emerging from the EAC secretariat in Arusha says the EAC has agreed on the construction of the Dar Es Salaam-Tanga-Mombasa natural gas pipeline.
The pipeline will potentially reduce the cost of energy in the region as more opportunities for natural gas open up.
The Community’s Arusha based secretariat approved a feasibility study conducted by COWI consultancy firm from Denmark. The pipeline is expected to carry natural gas from the Songo Songo Island from the Mnazi Bay gas fields in Southern Tanzania near the border with the neighboring Mozambique.
Recent discoveries of natural gas off the coast of Tanzania have taken the East African nation’s total reserves 7.5 trillion cubic feet, sufficient to allow exports to the region.
African Development Bank under the New Partnership for African Development- Infrastructure Project Preparatory Facility is facilitating the construction of the pipeline with a grant of USD561,700 for the project.
Based on demand for gas the pipeline has been estimated to be a 24 –inch line from Ubungoin Dar Es Salaam to the Kenyan coastal port City of Mombasa.
There will be a metering/regulating station at Tanga and Arusha branch and another at the end of the line at Mombasa.
The pipeline is expected to significantly contribute to diversification of energy sources within the region thereby enhancing security of energy supply.
“Diversification will mitigate the challenges arising from reliance on a limited type of energy sources in the region”, the Permanent Secretary in the Kenyan Ministry of Energy, Patrick Nyoike said, adding that the pipeline will also contribute to the reduction of energy costs and shield power generation from variability of weather and international crude oil prices. The PS said the pipeline project will also support cement manufacturing in Tanga as well as supply power for tourism and industrial activities.
Demand for power is surging in Tanzania and the country is expected to save millions of dollars over the next 20 years using natural gas instead of oil imports.
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