Hydropower

Tanzania’s interconnected grid system has an installed capacity of 1,501 MW, of which 41.54% is hydropower. The largest hydropower complexes are the Mtera and Kidatu Dams, and they are situated on the Great Ruaha River. The Mtera Dam is the most important reservoir in the power system providing over-year storage capability. It also regulates the outflows to maintain the water level for the downstream Kidatu hydropower plant.

Plants are all interconnected with the National Grid System and their installed capacity for each station are as follows: Kidatu 204 MW, Kihansi 180 MW, Mtera 80 MW, New Pangani 68 MW, Hale 21 MW, Uwemba 0.843 MW and nyumba ya Mungu 8 MW, totaling to 561.843 MW.  In 2017, the Government of Tanzania invited bids to build a 2,115-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric on the river Rufiji (Stieglers Gorge).  As of 2021, the project continues to be on the GoT’s priority list, and construction has commenced.

The Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station (JNHS), also called Rufiji Hydroelectric Power Station, is a 2,115 megawatts (2,836,000 hp) hydroelectric dam under construction in Tanzania. The power station is expected to produce 5,920GWh of power annually. The government of Tanzania has been considering establishing this power station since the 1960s. When fully developed, it will be the largest power station in East Africa. The 134 metres (440 ft) arched, concrete dam is expected to create a reservoir lake, 100 kilometres (62 mi), in length, measuring 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi), with 34,000,000,000 cubic metres (1.2×1012 cu ft) of water.