Minister of Housing Dr. Assem El Gazzar, visited Tanzania to follow up 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 Egypt's Ambassador to Tanzania Mohamed Gaber Abul Wafa, Major Gen. Mohamed Essam – Assistant of the Housing Minister, Major Gen. Mahmoud Nassar – Head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction, Eng. Sayed Farouk – CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Ahmed El Assar – Senior Vice Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Wael Hamdy – Vice Chairman of Elsewedy Electric and Eng. Hossam El Reefy – AC Board Member. At the beginning of the visit to the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, the Minister of Housing met with the Tanzanian Minister of Energy, January Makamba; they discussed the implementation status and work progress of the project. The Tanzanian Minister thanked the Egyptian government and the Egyptian JV implementing the project, and demanded to continue work until the completion of the project as soon as possible.
The Minister of Housing announced the success of the Egyptian JV (the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric) in completing the pouring of compacted concrete for the main dam, with a total of 1.5 million m3, and the construction work of the gates is currently ongoing.
He added that the permanent bridge works have also been completed, which was built with special specifications to transfer the parts of the turbines above, and it is also used after the project operation in the car traffic.
The Minister of Housing pointed out that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi places this project on great importance, given the great developmental role it represents for the brothers in Tanzania, and affirms Egypt's role in cooperation with the people of the African continent.
The Minister added that the Egyptian JV has completed the installation work in the interconnection yard with the Tanzanian National Network, and system testing is underway.
As for the hydropower plant: the civil works and finishing have been completed, the overhead cranes have been installed for the main turbine installation building, and the 2 gates of the river diversion tunnel have been completed, in preparation for the start of filling the reservoir and closing the tunnel.
Eng. Sayed Farouk – CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company announced that the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities is constantly following up on all the details of the project, to ensure the workflow. He declared that the number of workers in the project has reached 12,000 workers, 1,700 equipment, and working hours have reached 72 million so far.
The Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company added that the intake and the water tunnels leading to the turbine building have been completed, where the installation of gates is being prepared, and the installation of tunnel pipes has been completed.
Eng. Sayed Farouk explained that the JV accomplished the permanent camp for the client, which includes the administration and residential buildings for the project workers.
It is worth noting that the project includes the construction of a 1,025m dam at the top, with a height of 131m. The dam’s lake has a storage capacity of 34 billion m3. It also includes a 2,115-megawatt hydroelectric power plant. The station is located on the side of the Rufiji River in a nature reserve in the “Morgoro” area southwest of Dar es Salaam (the commercial capital). The hydroelectric power station is the largest in Tanzania, with an electrical capacity of 6,307 thousand megawatts / hour annually. The generated power will be transmitted through 400 kV power transmission lines to a sub-station, where the electric power generated will be integrated with the public electricity grid in Tanzania.
The project consists of 4 saddle dams to form the water reservoir, 2 temporary dams in front and behind the main dam for drying and diversion work during the implementation of the main dam, in addition to a water spillway in the middle of the main dam, an emergency spillway, a 660-meter tunnel to divert river water, and 3 tunnels for the passage of water required for the power plant, a permanent concrete bridge, and 2 temporary bridges on the Rufiji River. The project area is served by constructing temporary and permanent roads to facilitate traffic and link the components of the project.