El Gazzar Inspects Progress of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant ...

May 14, 2024

El Gazzar Inspects Progress of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam in Tanzania

El Gazzar: Egypt pays great attention to the implementation of this huge project, which embodies the distinguished relations between Egypt and Tanzania... achieving development and providing the necessary electrical energy for Tanzania. Dr. Assem Al-Gazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, inspected the work progress of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam, which is being implemented by the JV of the Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric on Rufiji River in Tanzania. He was accompanied by the Egyptian Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr. Sherif Ismail, Major Gen. Mahmoud Nassar - Head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction and Head of the Project Follow-up Committee, Eng. Ahmed El Assar - CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Hesham Hegazy - CEO of Elsewedy Electric PSP, Eng. Hossam El Din El Rify - Senior Vice Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Wael Hamdy - Senior Vice Chairman of Elsewedy Electric, Eng. Ayman Attia - Board Member of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Darem Debsi - Project Coordinator, Eng. Mohamed Samaha - JV Manager and Eng. Mohamed Zaki - JV Deputy Manager. The minister confirmed Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's keenness to regularly follow up on the project. This visit comes to follow up on work on the ground to achieve development for our brothers in Tanzania, provide the necessary electrical energy to the Republic of Tanzania, control the flood of Rufiji River, and preserve the environment. Officials of the Egyptian JV implementing the project said that the project includes the construction of a dam with a length of 1,025m and has been completed. The storage capacity of the dam lake reaches 34 billion m3. It also includes a hydropower plant with a capacity of 2,115 MW. The station is located on the side of Rufiji River in a natural reserve in "Morgoro" southwest of the city of Dar es Salaam (the commercial capital) and the largest city in Tanzania, where 33 billion m3 were stored in the dam lake and the water reached a level of 184m above sea level, as the minimum operating level for turbines is 163 m above sea level. JV officials added that the overall completion rate of the project reached 97.74%, as the following works were completed: the main dam, 4 subsidiary dams to form the water reservoir, intake works, 3 tunnels for the passage of the necessary water to the turbine building, an electricity distribution and connection station, and a permanent concrete bridge over Rufiji River. The completion rate of the hydropower plant reached 93.8%, and the permanent roads to facilitate movement and connect the components of the project reached 87.43%. The amount of concrete compacted in the main dam reached 1.4 million m3. The main gates of the dam were installed, and the final finishing is being carried out. The amount of backfill used in the subsidiary dams reached 5.5 million m3, in addition to 350000 m3 of concrete. Officials of the Egyptian JV implementing the project explained that work on the main intakes of the channels that connect water to the turbine building is proceeding according to planned rates, as the cutting of the main channels inside the mountain with lengths exceeding 1,500 m completed, the concrete lining work for the 3 main channels has been completed, and all the main gates of the intakes have been installed and assembled. The tunnel leading to turbines Nos. (7 - 8 - 9) were filled after successful testing work. The work is ongoing in the main structure of the turbine building, which is one of the most important units of the project, as civil works for the turbine assembly building (Erection Bay) completed. 3 giant cranes - with a load capacity of 400 tons per winch - were installed necessary to install the main units of the turbines, and the supplied parts of the turbines are currently being installed. This work is being carried out according to the highest quality levels, in addition to the auxiliary electromechanical systems. The installation of the transformers has been completed for 27 transformers, towers and connecting lines between the turbine building station and the interconnecting station. The installation of 2 turbines Nos. (8 - 9) has been completed, and turbine No. 7 is being completed, including the auxiliary and control systems, and connecting it to the main control building. They indicated that testing work is being carried out for the two turbines (7-8), and the final operation of turbine No. 9 has been completed, to generate 235 MW and upload it to the external network of Tanzania. The installation of the turbine package is underway after the concrete work for the entire building has been completed, besides the completion of phases 1 and 2 for concrete works, the turbine outlet building, and river dredging works with a total of 250,000 m3. The interior finishing is being completed. The building's exterior finishing, the foundation layer work for the permanent roads have been completed; the final layer work and paving work are being completed. The distribution and interconnection station with a capacity of 400 KVA was completed, connecting it to the Chalinzi station in Morgoro region and to the capital Dar es Salaam. The testing and operation were carried out successfully, as the interconnection line was tested and received the electricity necessary for the initial operation and tests of the turbines, as well as the start of generating electricity from the turbines and uploading it to the external network.