By Charles Mkoka
CHALINZE, Tanzania, July 28 — Tanzania's 400-kilovolt Chalinze-Dodoma electricity transmission line has reached 94% completion, bringing the country closer to commissioning one of its largest power infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening the national grid and unlocking additional electricity from the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant.
The 345-kilometre transmission line, valued at approximately Tsh514 billion and fully financed by the government, is scheduled for completion on Aug. 21, 2026.
TANESCO Acting Director of Communications and Customer Service Irene Gowele said the remaining work involves final integration of the new transmission line into the national grid, requiring temporary shutdowns of selected 220kV and 132kV transmission lines to ensure the safety of workers and efficient execution of the project.
The planned outages will be carried out in two phases, from July 30 to Aug. 4 and Aug. 11 to Aug. 17, between 0600 and 1700 local time.
Gowele said the interruptions would affect selected areas in Tanzania's Central, Northern, Lake, Western and South-Western zones, while customers in Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Lindi and Mtwara would not be affected.
"No customer will be without electricity throughout the entire implementation period because outage schedules will vary by location," she said, urging consumers to follow regional schedules published through TANESCO's media platforms, social media channels and regional WhatsApp groups.
Project engineer Newton Livingston Mwakifwamba said the remaining activities involve connecting the new transmission infrastructure to the national grid at Mkambarani, Kikombo and Nkonze, marking the project's final implementation phase.
He said once commissioned, the transmission line will enable TANESCO to evacuate the full 2,115 megawatts generated by the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant, compared with the current transmission capacity of about 850 MW.
Mwakifwamba said the project would also strengthen Tanzania's participation in regional electricity markets through the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), enabling cross-border electricity trade with countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and Zambia.
He added that technical planning for the transmission project has also ensured that construction activities will not disrupt operations of Tanzania's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
