Nationwide power rationing during day time went into effect on Thursday in Tanzania after the government had decided to save reservoir water in face of prolonged and persistent drought.

The Tanzania Electric Supply Company, the country's sole electricity provider, is scheduled to publicize a detailed program of power rationing.

Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania, will bear the brunt of power rationing in that it consumes more than half of the national electricity.

For the time being, Tanzania generates 447 megawatts of electricity through hydro and gas-to-electricity power plants. Dar es Salaam consumes 245 megawatts.

In a proposed load shedding program, Dar es Salaam alone will lower electricity consumption by 35 megawatts while the rest of country will shed 25 megawatts, easing a combined 60 megawatts on the national power grid.

According to official statistics, the Mtera Dam, Tanzania's telltale hydropower plant, has already been operating almost three meters below its allowed production water level of 690 meters above sea level.

The water level is now measured at 687.59 meters at Mtera, meaning that it has only 59 centimeters of reservoir water to run the turbines safely at the dam and to feed the downstream Kidatu hydropower plant.

The water stream from the Mtera Dam has been dwindling from an average of 139 cubic meters per second in 2001 to 41 cubic meters a second in 2005.

The Mtera and Kidatu dams combine to generate upwards of half the country's electricity.

Municipal authorities are busy installing a gas turbine with a generating capacity of 60 megawatts in Dar es Salaam to help bail the city out of the current power shortage crisis which was first caused by the failure of two 45 MVA transformers last October.

Government officials, however, guaranteed the public that hospitals, strategic industries and key government institutions will get normal electricity supply.

Source: Xinhua