Minister of Housing Dr. Assem El-Gazzar, held a meeting 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. This was in the presence of 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, and Eng. Wael Hamdy – Senior Vice Chairman of Elsewedy Electric, within the framework of periodic follow-up to the progress of the project and pursuant to the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi by giving the project particular importance.
The Minister of Housing pointed out that the project is aiming at the construction of a dam with total length 1025m at crest level and 131m height, it has 7 water exits, its capacity is 34 billion m3. 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).
The Minister added that the project components being implemented included: (the main dam – hydropower generation plant and intakes works – 3 tunnels to transfer the water to the power plant - interconnecting electric power grids - 4 saddle dams for reservoir impounding of water - a permanent concrete bridge on Rufiji. the construction of permanent access roads to ease movement and linking the project components - permanent client camp – managing procurement and electromechanical components of the project).
It is 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 families. 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.