Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Ewura, Haruna Masebo akimkabidhi leseni ya uzalishaji wa umeme wa upepo Bw. Rashid Shamte ambaye ni mkurugenzi wa kampuni ya Wind EA katika hafla fupi iliyofanyika jijini jana. kampuni hiyo imepewa leseni ya kuzalisha umeme wa upepo wa 100mw kwa kipindi cha miezi 30.
Wafanyakazi wa Kampuni ya Wind EA wakiwa katika picha ya pamoja na Mkurugenzi wa Mkuu wa EWURA,Haruna Masebo mara baada ya kukabidhiwa leseni yao ya biashara.
Wafanyakazi wa Kampuni ya Wind EA wakiwa katika mazungumzo na waandishi wa habari juu ya shughuli za kampuni hiyo na mkakati wao wa uzalishaji umeme wa upepo baada ya EWURA,kuwakabidhileseni yao ya biashara.
PRESS STATEMENT
[Upon receiving the Provisional Licence from EWURA, ]
Wind East Africa Limited (Wind EA) offers this press release to inform the public about its development of the 100MW Singida Wind Power Project (Project).
Wind EA has developed the Project with integrity of process and a highly experienced and pragmatic Project development strategy. We have used the early development stages to confirm the Project’s general feasibility, and we are now looking forward to negotiating the Project details with TANESCO and the Government of Tanzania (GoT).
The Project area boasts a strong wind resource, proximity to major transmission lines, and proximity to a regional centre. Well considered and consistent project development efforts and adherence to the highest standards in international power project development have resulted in a Project that has already achieved both a Comfort Letter from the GoT and a concept review decision to “proceed” from the World Bank in July 2011.[1] With its proactive development efforts, Wind EA is now seen as the lead project in Singida.
The Project fundamentals are compelling. With acute power supply issues gripping Tanzania, the Project offers a cost competitive, environmentally benign power supply option to support the Northern load centres. Wind EA has undertaken a wind resource measurement campaign and deep consultation efforts in the Project area. These efforts represent the foundational and prerequisite efforts necessary to ensure the solidity of the long term Project effort.
Consistent with both World Bank and Tanzania guidelines, Wind EA has initiated direct informative consultations with residents in the villages in the Project area. Wind EA informed both the GoT and the World Bank of these efforts and have been pleased to have officials from both GoT and the World Bank attend these direct meetings with those in the Project area.
In response to a Ministry of Energy and Minerals (Ministry) request, Wind EA delivered its Project Feasibility Study in November 2010. The Ministry replied with its Comfort Letter in February of 2011. The stage was then set for advancement of the Project between Wind EA and TANESCO, the Tanzania national utility and a keystone to the Project structure as the purchaser of the electricity from the Project. Wind EA delivered initial draft copies of the proposed Project contracts to TANESCO in June 2011. In October 2011, TANESCO took the important step of officially requesting support from the World Bank for a facility to assist in funding the world-class transactional advisors for the Project. In such a ground-breaking project, the inclusion of such advisors to TANESCO and GoT seems a very prudent step.
Once those advisors are in place, then the parties (with their respective advisors), will be able to sit together to negotiate and discuss the most efficient path to Project “completion”. . We hope the negotiations process will occur efficiently and expediently, and will result in the choice to proceed, which will allow the timely achieving of financial close and project implementation.
Given the strong demand in Tanzania for generation projects, and all the evidence that this Project has been carefully managed to this point, it seems very appropriate to undertake those steps necessary to most efficiently develop the Project to the decision point of negotiating a Power Purchase Agreement.
1 THE PROJECT SUMMARY
The Singida Wind East Africa Wind Power Project aims to provide 100MW of reliable, low cost wind power to the Tanzanian national grid, equivalent to approximately 7% of the current installed electricity generating capacity.
The Project, which will be the first wind farm in Tanzania, will be a major infrastructure development to improve power supply to the north and north-west regions of Tanzania. The wind farm is located in Singida District, Singida Region, in central Tanzania, approximately 10 km from Singida town.
After five years of development, and the undertaking of various technical, environmental and social analyses that have demonstrated the feasibility of the Project, the Singida 100 MW wind farm project stands ready to move directly towards Financial Close.
Financial Close is anticipated to be reached in less than one year after conclusion of negotiations of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with TANESCO. The PPA negotiations are expected to be initiated in Q1 2012.
Upon completion of PPA negotiations, the Project Company intend to secure the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract according to best industry practice utilising proven contractors and suppliers selected via competitive bidding. It is anticipated that a mixture of Tanzanian and international companies will be involved to supply equipment (wind turbines, internal collection network, wind farm substation, interconnection equipment, site infrastructures and facilities) and to carry out the construction works.
The presentation of the Project to the international wind energy industry community and international financial institutions has already attracted a lot of interest, particularly favourable to optimize the technical reliability, cost efficiency and delivery schedule of the Project.
The Project proponent is the Wind East Africa Limited (Wind EA) consortium comprising Six Telecoms Ltd (Six Telecoms) from Tanzania, Aldwych International Ltd (Aldwych) from the United Kingdom, and KenTec Denmark APS (KenTec) from Denmark.
Wind EA will be responsible for the financing, construction and operation of the wind farm. Aldwych, an experienced power company focused on Africa, will oversee the financing, construction and operations of the power plant on behalf of Wind EA. The power produced will be sold to TANESCO in accordance with the PPA currently negotiated.
2 SPONSORS
2.1 Six Telecoms Company Ltd
“Six Telecoms Company Limited is a wholly Tanzanian owned private enterprise, was established in 2004 and is licensed by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) as an international telecommunications operator providing voice and data services to local and international Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and ISP's. Since its founding and licensing, Six Telecoms has grown to achieve significant market share and is a dominant player in the international wholesale telecommunications market with over 200 global operators using its regional and global network to deliver mission critical services to their customers.
Six Telecoms has morphed into The Six Telecoms Group of Companies with a maintained and consistent focus on technology and relevant applicability. Within the group is: Six Telecoms (as described above), Push Mobile, Push Observer, Copyrights Management East Africa and Wind East Africa.
Synergistic relationships with key global partners and leveraging technology have been and will remain the focus of the group of companies. With visionary leaders at the helm, the Six Telecoms Group has managed to establish itself in and create niche markets with never-before-done businesses in East Africa relaying with its continued focus on technological superiority.
The Six Telecoms Group continues to strive to meet the African market demands with applicability and utility maximization in mind while providing technology solutions for the African marketplace.”
2.2 Aldwych International Ltd
Aldwych was established in 2004, for the purpose of developing, owning and operating power generation, transmission and distribution projects in the emerging economies of Africa and Asia. It now focuses its development efforts on sub-Saharan Africa.
The Aldwych founders and management between them have a long history of international power industry experience and have successfully financed or re-financed nearly 20 power projects worldwide totalling over 11,000MW and US $3.75bn in both the developed and the developing world. They also have extensive operational experience in Africa.
Aldwych has operational businesses in Kenya (90 MW HFO power plant), South Africa (600 MW coal power plant), and North Zambia (ownership interests in the Copperbelt Energy Corporation), and is developing projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Gambia.
Aldwych’s main shareholder is the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund.
2.3 KenTec Denmark APS
Established in 1992, KenTec is an international wind energy consultancy with deep experience in wind resource analysis and in assisting companies in developing international wind energy projects.
3 PROJECT HISTORY
TANESCO, the Tanzanian national utility company, initiated the country’s wind energy development effort by undertaking a preliminary wind resource measurement campaign in various sites across Tanzania in 2005. The data was made available to all entities interested in entering Tanzania’s wind energy business. Six Telecoms has been developing the 100 MW Wind EA Singida wind farm project since 2006, and Aldwych joined the effort in 2009.
4 PROJECT RATIONALE
The Singida 100 MW wind farm project possesses several key features:
- The wind resource is a world class wind resource resulting in the anticipated wind farm energy production performance being twice as high as the average performance of existing wind farms in the world;
- Wind energy persistency and reliability in Singida area has been confirmed by five years of wind resource measurements undertaken by TANESCO, and further proven by a detailed wind measurement campaign at the site undertaken by Wind EA using 60 m measurement masts;
- A near perfect matching of the Singida wind resource with the hydro resource seasonal variations: when wind speeds are high (May – October), it is usually the dry season, and conversely, when winds are low, it is usually the wet season. This matching will enable the optimisation of hydro and wind power generation;
- The GOT, and notably the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the Singida Regional, District, Municipal and Village area officials have provided outstanding support to the Project. That, combined with the Project’s proximity to the Singida regional centre, will be essential to the ongoing efficient development of the Project.
- A central location in the electric network, contributing to the improvement of electricity generation and transport in the north and north west of Tanzania (together with the several other TANESCO initiatives, like for example, the Mwanza 60 MW HFO power plant and the 400 kV line from Iringa to Shinyanga), and reducing the overall transmission line loss from the current power stations located in the south and coast regions;
- Based on the above, a very good matching with the existing gas, hydro and thermal generation mix;
- A short construction schedule enabling to deliver the first kWh in less than 1.5 years from Financial Close and full operation in less than two years from Financial Close.
5 PROJECT STATUS AND TIMELINE
The Project aims to reach Financial Close before the end of Q4 2012. To be able to achieve this target, the transaction advisors must be set in place by the end of Q1 2012 and the PPA must be signed by the end of Q2 20122. If these goals are achieved, then it will be possible to achieve Financial Close by the end of 2012. This would require the most efficient development by all parties involved.
6 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL STANDARDS
Singida Region is among the economically underdeveloped Regions in Tanzania. Wind EA is committed to implement Tanzanian and international best practices throughout the development and operation of the Singida 100 MW wind farm project in accordance with Tanzanian and international regulations, in particular the Equator principles and the IFC Performance Standards.
Furthermore, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme will be developed to improve the lives of those in the Project area over the 20 years of the investment.
7 Land efforts
8 Wind EA has identified the likely project area and it is now undertaking consultation with residents of the project impact area in advance of initiating the process of securing the land. Wind EA has not yet secured any of the land for the project and will do so only with the participation of the got and the world bank.
9 Concluding comments
10 Now that we have greater certainty about the project and its timeline, we are ready to talk about the project to the press and we hope you will help us educate various stakeholders and correctly inform the mass. We have refrained from raising expectations of those living in the intended project area until our project development efforts attain appreciable level.
11 We hope that this information has both clarified some of the key questions regarding the project and demonstrated the main reasons why wind ea is so excited about developing this excellent project.
12 CONTACTS
Please do not hesitate to contact the Project Coordinator, Mr Said Abdallah, for any enquiries.
Mr Said Abdallah, Wind EA Project Coordinator, Six Telecoms
E: said.abdallah@6telecoms.co.tz
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment