The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with African energy firm Aldwych and telecommunications service provider Six Telecoms to develop a 100MW wind farm in Singida, Tanzania
An IFC statement said that the project would aim to enhance power supply reliability, decrease the need for expensive fuel imports and help in fighting climate change.
Being developed by Kenyan renewable energy provider Wind East Africa, the project is the result of a government push to diversify energy sources, as drafted in its recent policy on renewable energy.
The total project cost for the wind farm has been estimated at US$285mn, of which IFC, Aldwych and Six Telecoms will contribute US$18mn during the development stage and US$71mn in total equity.
Located 700km from Dar es Salaam, the Singida wind farm will produce power through wind turbines to help diversify Tanzania’s electricity away from hydropower.
The farm will be owned by Wind East Africa and operated by a management company led by Aldwych and Six Telecoms.
IFC director for East and southern Africa Oumar Seydi said, “IFC invested in Wind East Africa’s Singida farm to support an energy project that can serve as an example to the entire East African region.
“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.”
Aldwych project director Mark Gammons commented, “Aldwych senior management team has experience in and a strong belief in the Tanzanian market. We believe this project will help develop the Tanzanian power sector and also the local economy around Singida.”
Six Telecoms founder and head of group strategy Rashid Shamte added, “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.”
