Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya agree 400 MW power line

LUSAKA -- - Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya signed an agreement recently to construct a 400-megawatt power inter-connector line linking the three African countries at a cost of $323 million.

The project is due to start in 2004 and be completed in 2006, said a statement released after the energy ministers of the three countries signed a memorandum of understanding in the Zambian capital Lusaka. The statement said the power line would link the Zambian town of Serenje with Mbeya in Tanzania and Nairobi in Kenya. Officials said power would be exported from Zambia to the other two countries.

"When the project is complete, the line will be capable of transferring up to 400 megawatts of power. Preparatory work on the project has started and feasibility studies will end by December 2003," the statement said.

"The three governments have committed themselves to the joint mobilisation of investment funds from both the private and public sector necessary for implementing the project," it added.

Zambia's energy minister George Mpombo told Reuters that the power line project was aimed at enhancing electricity trade and that it was also aimed at supporting communications and rural electrification in the three countries. "The World Bank has already agreed to provide some funds for the project and some of it will come from the private sector," Mpombo said.

Zambia has great potential in electricity generation and transmission because its large river network is suitable for power generation. The country exports power to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.