Tanzania has overtaken Kenya to become the East African Community’s largest country by installed electricity generation capacity following the integration of the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station into the national grid.
The commissioning of the major hydropower project on the Rufiji River has increased Tanzania’s installed grid capacity to about 4,646 megawatts (MW), compared with approximately 3,840 MW in Kenya.
The latest figures place Tanzania at the top of the EAC’s installed generation capacity rankings, followed by Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
The EAC countries’ installed capacities are:
The 2,115-MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station, built on the Rufiji River, is one of Tanzania’s largest infrastructure projects and is expected to significantly strengthen the country’s electricity supply.
The increase in generation capacity comes as Tanzania seeks to expand access to reliable electricity and support industrial and economic growth.
The DRC ranks third in the regional bloc with about 2,516 MW of installed capacity, while Uganda has around 2,098 MW.
Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Burundi have considerably smaller installed generation bases, with capacities of 409 MW, 300 MW, 212 MW and 109 MW, respectively.
Tanzania’s increased generation capacity could also strengthen its position in regional electricity trade through the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), particularly as countries across the region work to expand cross-border electricity interconnections.
However, installed generation capacity alone does not determine how much electricity is available to consumers. Transmission infrastructure, grid reliability, hydrological conditions and actual power demand will remain important factors in determining Tanzania’s ability to utilise its expanded generation capacity and supply electricity to neighbouring markets.
The development underscores the differing pace of energy infrastructure expansion across East Africa, where governments are investing in new generation and transmission projects to meet rising electricity demand and support industrialisation.
