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We have power!

  1. Posted on Thursday 28 September 2006 - 08:38
    Redactie AfrikaNieuws
    Image of Redactie AfrikaNieuws
     
    27 September 2006, by PowerNell. Power has been restored in Tanzania! Apparently from now on we will have daytime power from 13.00 onwards. That is: daily. Big eyes of hope and disbelief. It seems to be such a long time ago. Today I was at a place where the aircondioning was running, quite unexpectedly, without the background noise of the generator. It came to me as a shock: Tanesco must be back. At daytime.

    Mixed messages


    It was a bit unclear when power was to be restored. Last week it was announced that there would be more power by Tuesday (yesterday), but that was only supposed to be power for the industrial areas. Yesterday the Minister for Energy and Minerals said that by next month, the country would be able to produce extra power. So I did not expect anything: better not to have high expectations as they can easily turn into desillusions. Anyway, it is said that the restored power has something to do with the just started Ramadan. I think that is quite unlikely. It would implicate either that we spared some power over the last months just to have extra power for Ramadan, or that the government is using the very last centimeters of the available water in the Mtera Dam, knowing that more emergency generators will soon arrive. It is more likely that the now restored power comes from the emergency turbine that was installed at SonGas. At the other side, it is said that in the new power rationing regime power will be switched off at 06.00 am instead of 07.00, which could have something to do with Ramadan.

    Sleep, finally


    This humble power watcher will catch up some sleep the next few days. For almost two months I have been working late, just to save on generator costs. Most of my work I could do at daytime, as I don"t need power to use my laptop, but for making prints and using the internet I had to wait until after 19.00. So sleep well, everybody!
     
    (Wow, I keep thinking of all the possibilities of tomorrow. Music, coffee, internet, washing machine, charging phone at daytime, use the oven, the freezer... endless opportunities)

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