Current Markets
Industrial
Orca Exploration Group Inc. (formerly East Coast Energy Corporation) has already constructed 28 kilometers of gas pipeline in Dar es Salaam to transport gas to industrial customers. The system is being expanded and a further 16 kilometers is expected to be completed in Q1 2008.
There is a growing demand for natural gas among existing industries in Tanzania and it is forecast that new industries wanting to locate within East Africa will be attracted to Tanzania by a reliable, cheaper and more environmentally friendly source of energy.
Power Generation
Historically power generation in Tanzania has been hydro-based. Because approximately 40% (of 209 MWs of Tanzania’s hydro power) is ‘run of river’, it is not always available during the 7-8 dry months of the year. Whilst there was a significant improvement in the hydrology in early 2007, TANESCO has moved to re-balance its generation mix with the installation of additional emergency and permanent gas fired generation. As a result hydro power generation has fallen and gas generation has increased.
Over 250 MWs was installed in 2007 taking the total gas fired generation in Tanzania to approximately 460 MWs of which 310 MWs uses Additional Gas supplied by Orca Exploration. The average gas utilisation rates depend on the availability of the hydro and anticipated growth in demand. Recent annual growth in Tanzania's energy demand has averaged between 7 and 9 percent.
Power plants operating on “Additional Gas” include the Aggreko 40 MW power plant, a 20 MW General Electric power plant and Wartsila which is supplying a further 100 MW of power.