Hydropower generation development in Tanzania

Tanesco (Tanzania Electricity Supply Company) is a State owned power utility entrusted with the tusk of generating, distributing and selling electricity in Mainland Tanzania. The utility dates as far back as 1908 when it was initially owned by the Germans to supply power to the railway workshops and part of Dar es Salaam town. In 1931 two separate power utilities were established. One known as Tanganyika Electricity Supply Company (T4NESCO) and the second one Dar es Salaam Electricity Supply Company (DARESCO). The former was established around Pangani Falls near Tanga and was mainly supplying electricity to the Sisal estates; the later was initially supplying power to the towns along the Central railway line namely Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Tabora and Kigoma.In 1964, three years after independence the government purchased all the shares of TANESCO. The two companies were then merged to form the state owned power utility known as Tanganyika Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO). In 1968, after the formation of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form Tanzania the name of the Company was changed into Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO). Since then the major task of the company has been to ensure that the country is supplied with cheap, abundant and reliable electricity. This has, to a large extent, been achieved by developing a number of hydro potentials and construction of transmission lines to get the power to the load centres.