By: AllAfrica

Residents of Rukwa Region will start receiving electricity from the national grid in May this year, once the 400kV high-voltage power transmission project from Iringa is completed, the Deputy Minister for Energy, Ms Salome Makamba, has said.

Ms Makamba made the remarks over the weekend in Laela Town, Sumbawanga District Council, during the visit of Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba, who began an official tour of Rukwa Region.

She said the government is implementing directives issued by President Samia Suluhu Hassan to ensure the region is connected to the national grid through the Tanzania-Zambia (TAZA) power project.

"Following directives from President Samia Suluhu Hassan and your guidance, we are continuing efforts to ensure that by May 2026 we switch on electricity through the TAZA project," she said.

"The project is progressing well, and if everything goes according to plan, Rukwa Region will finally benefit from electricity from the national grid by May this year," Ms Makamba added.

Currently, the region receives electricity from Zambia under the Southern African Power Pool, a regional power trade arrangement that allows member states to buy and sell electricity to meet demand.

The deputy minister noted that Tanzania now has sufficient electricity generation capacity and that the government is focusing on strengthening transmission and distribution infrastructure to ensure power reaches more citizens."Since the country has enough electricity, the ongoing efforts are focused on building strong transmission and distribution systems so that more wananchi can access reliable power," she said.

On clean cooking energy, Ms Makamba said the government is implementing initiatives to increase the use of clean cooking technologies, aiming for 80 per cent of Tanzanians to adopt clean cooking energy by 2034.

The initiatives include the distribution of improved cookstoves and subsidised gas cylinders to make clean cooking energy more accessible to citizens.