29/05/2022
ZAMBIA, TANZANIA PLAN TO BUILD GAS PIPELINE
Zambia and Tanzania are considering the possibility of building a 1.5 billion dollar gas pipeline.
The pipeline will be used by Zambia to import gas from Tanzania.
Energy Minister PETER KAPALA says the two countries have since prepared ground for a Memorandum of Understanding on building the gas-pipeline which will be 1,000 kilometres long.
Mr. KAPALA, who was recently in Tanzania to discuss the plan with his counterpart JANUARY MAKAMBA, has confirmed the development to ZNBC news via telephone.
The Energy Minister notes that Tanzania hosts about 53 trillion cubic feet of gas, most of it offshore and has previously signed preliminary deals to evacuate piped gas exports to Uganda and Kenya.
Meanwhile, Mr. KAPALA said revamping the Tanzania Zambia Mafuta -TAZAMA- pipeline, which runs from Dar-es-Salaam to Ndola, to convey finished oil products will reduce challenges in transporting petroleum products.
The minister recently travelled from Ndola to Dar-es-Salaam by road to inspect the TAZAMA pipeline and its attendant facilities to see the state of the infrastructure and appreciate what is needed to convert the pipeline from one conveying comingled crude
il to transport finished products like low-Sulphur diesel.
Last month, Mr. KAPALA also announced that Zambia and Namibia will in June sign a Memorandum of Understanding to assess the viability of constructing natural gas and oil product pipelines between the two countries.
The pipelines will most likely run from Walvis Bay to Lusaka and carry at least 350 million cubic feet per day of feedstock for power plants.
The gas will be used for power generation while the oil pipeline will help reduce the cost of petroleum products in the country.
The project, which is expected to take 3 to 4 years to complete, will have its main gas and oil power station in Lusaka.