The Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities – Dr. Assem El Gazzar held a meeting to follow up the executive status for Julius Nyerere Dam and Hydropower Plant which is carried out by the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company on Rufiji River in Tanzania. This was in the presence of the ministry officials, Eng. Sayed Farouk – Senior Vice Chairman, Eng. Ahmed El Assar - AC Board Member and representatives of the JV.
The Minister assured the health and safety of the workers in the project. Major Gen. Mahmoud Nassar –Head of the Central Authority for Development and Head of the Follow up Committee for the Project said that the executive status of the project was explored during the meeting by the Egyptian JV. The project aims at controlling the flood, generating power and protecting the environment.
The project is about a main dam with total length 1025m at crest level and 134m height with a capacity to impound approximately 34 billion m3 of water. Besides, the construction of a hydropower plant with a capacity of 2115mw. The plant is located on Rufiji River in Selous Game Reserve at Morogoro area, South West of Dar es Salam (largest city and commercial capital of Tanzania). It will be the biggest plant in Tanzania with a capacity of 6307 MW/hour yearly, the generated power will be transferred by 400kv transmission lines to a substation of 400kv where the generated power will be merged with the public power grid.
In addition to these, the project includes the construction of 4 saddle dams for reservoir impounding of water. Besides, main spillway is located on the center of the main dam, an emergency spillway and a tunnel with a length of 703m to divert the water of the river. The construction of 3 tunnels to transfer the water to the power plant , a permanent concrete bridge, 2 temporary bridges on Rufiji. The civil works includes the construction of temporary and permanent access roads to ease movement and linking the project components.
It is a noteworthy that the Egyptian JV (the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company signed the contract in December 2018 in Dar es Salam in Tanzania. It was in the presence of the Tanzanian President and Dr. Moustafa Madbouli- Egyptian Prime Minister. The contract value is 2.9 billion dollars. The project objectives are to generate 6307 MW/hour yearly for the consumption of 17 million Tanzanian family. In addition to these, the dam is controlling the flood to protect the environment from the risks of floods and swamps, storing about 34 billion m3 of water in a new lake to ensure permanent water availability throughout the year for agriculture, and preserving the surrounding wildlife in one of the largest forests in Africa and the whole world.