The president of
the United Republic of Tanzania Dr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete congratulates the Wind
East Africa team on the progress made with the Singida 100MW Wind Project after
receiving an update on November 4th 2011 at the Singida State House. Left to
Right. Said Abdallah (Project Director), Simon Magesa [Project
Coordinator-Singida] Rashid Shamte (Founder -Project Director), Mark Gammons
(Project Director), Jayce Kaiser (Project coordinator)
(Photo:/ State
House)
IFC, Aldwych International,
and Six Telecoms to Develop 100 MW Wind Farm in Tanzania
Dar es Salaam,
December 17, 2012—IFC, a member of the World
Bank Group, is partnering with Aldwych and Six Telecoms to develop a 100 MW
wind farm in Singida, Tanzania, enhancing power supply reliability, decreasing the
need for costly fuel imports, and helping fight climate change.
Being developed by
project company Wind East Africa, the Singida project seeks to be the country’s
first successfull, independent wind energy power project. This project is a result of the government of Tanzania’s push
for diverse energy sources, as drafted in its recent policy on renewable
energy.
The total project
cost for the wind farm is estimated at $285 million, of which IFC, Aldwych and
Six Telecoms will contribute $18 million during the development stage and $71
million in total equity.
Located 700 kilometres from Dar es Salaam, the
Singida wind farm will produce power through wind turbines to help diversify Tanzania’s
electricity away from hydropower. When the hydropower supply drops during times
of drought, Tanzania has had to turn to costly emergency power. Wind energy is
an innovative way to boost power supply, with Singida expected to add 100 MW of
capacity.
Singida will also provide power at more stable
cost, as tariffs for wind energy remain relatively constant as no fuel source
is required. The farm will be owned
by Wind East Africa and operated by a management company led by Aldwych and Six
Telecoms.
“IFC invested in Wind East
Africa’s Singida farm to support a pioneering energy project that can serve as
an example to the entire region,” said Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for East and
Southern Africa. “With growing demand for electricity in Africa’s economies,
independent power projects like Singida can add much-needed capacity to the
power grid. Aldwych International and Six Telecoms’ participation demonstrates
how the private sector can advance government efforts to increase energy
security.”
Mark Gammons, Project Director for
Aldwych, said, “Having been involved in the successful development of the
Songas gas to electricity project, Aldwych’s senior management team has deep
experience in and a strong belief in the Tanzanian market. We believe this
ground-breaking project will help develop the Tanzanian power sector and also
the local economy around Singida.”
Rashid Shamte, Founder and Head of
Group Strategy at Six Telecoms, said, “As a Tanzanian company in telecoms, we
were faced with the challenge of deciding how to best diversify our portfolio.
The crippling power rationing in our country presented Six Telecoms with a
great challenge in our operations, so this project was a compelling option.
Six
Telecoms applauds the leadership of TANESCO and the government of Tanzania for
initiating the wind measurement campaign in selected areas of the country, for
making the wind data available to all interested parties, and for welcoming
private sector participation in the energy sector. We are lucky to have
experienced partners such as Aldwych and IFC leading our efforts in this
project.”
In addition to the investment, IFC will assist in
the overall project development. IFC will lend its experience and expertise to project
structuring process and to ensure that the project meets the appropriate
environmental and social standards.
IFC is making this investment
through its InfraVentures division, which was created in 2008 to support
innovative infrastructure projects. IFC InfraVentures addresses constraints to
private investment in infrastructure, including the limited availability of
funds and experienced professionals.
Increasing
access to power is at the heart of IFC’s strategy for sub-Saharan Africa. IFC
invested $1 billion in infrastructure projects in Africa in fiscal year 2012,
up from $200 million five years ago.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group,
is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the
private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by
financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets,
and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our
investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the
power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the
world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About Aldwych
International
Aldwych
is a leading developer of power projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Its founders and
management between them have a long history of international power industry
experience. They also have extensive operational experience, including operations
in sub-Saharan Africa. Most recently, Aldwych, together with Danish partners, financed,
built and brought into commercial operation the 90MW Rabai power plant near
Mombasa, Kenya, and Aldwych is now co-developing the 300MW Lake Turkana Wind
Project in Northern Kenya.
Aldwych
International Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aldwych Holdings Ltd (“AHL”), and AHL’s shareholders include its
majority shareholder, the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund, based in
South Africa, and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor
Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (“FMO”,
the Netherlands Development Finance Company). For more information, visit http://www.aldwych-international.com/
About
Six Telecoms Company
Six Telecoms is an international wholesale
telecommunications carrier and Value Added Services
(VAS) provider to Mobile Network Operators (MNO) &
Internet Service Providers (ISP) across Tanzania, East Africa and globally.
Founded in 2004 with a focus on international voice, Six
Telecoms has successfully diversified into wholesale data, mobile value added
services and media services.
Six Telecoms is a wholly Tanzanian owned company. For more information, visit http://www.6telecoms.co.tz/
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