In a USD 455 million agreement that was signed on September 30 2014, a 400MW Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya (ZTK) Power Grid Interconnection Project will be completed early next year that will connect the Tanzania power grid to Zambia and Kenya.
According to the Tanzania Minister of Energy and Minerals, Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, the project to export the electricity powered by its reserves of gas and coal is known as the “backbone interconnector” and is the first of several regional projects to create links between Kenya and Ethiopia and between Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
In a statement released by the Tanzania Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the Tanzania Government explained that the “backbone project” will connect the northern Kenya power grid and the southwestern Zambia power grid and to the Tanzania power grid, making Tanzania a regional hub for the eastern and southern Africa power pool.
Construction of the 667km voltage line will be funded through a partnership with the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund.
