Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Wind Country Notes

Tanzania
The WEC Member Committee for Tanzania reports that based on the available information, much of the wind resource is located along the coastline, the high plateau regions of the Rift Valley, on the plains and around the Great Lakes. Currently wind energy is used to pump water for irrigation and to meet domestic and livestock water needs. More than 120 windmills have been installed to provide mechanical power for water pumping.

Microscale electricity generation from wind has been reported in a very few locations, while several studies on wind are being carried out in order to establish dissemination strategies for wider application, including power generation. By 2003 more than 8.5 kW of wind-powered electricity generating capacity was in place.

At present the proven potential of wind is 0.9 - 4.8 m/s. At some locations the spot measurements are as high as 12 m/s.

There has been limited success, even in areas with a good wind regime, owing to:

• a lack of reliable wind resources data for siting of wind turbines;
• poorly designed or expensive prototypes;
• a lack of trained local support personnel and maintenance.

There have been few attempts made to utilise wind power, which could be a viable alternative source of energy. However, it has been proposed as an alternative source of electricity, and thus wind-speed data from a site called Setchet is being used to illustrate the possible utilisation for electricity generation. The windy season (July to November) coincides with the dry season. The annual average wind speed during this period is 8.3 m/s, quite high enough for electricity generation via wind turbine.