The joint project by Symbion and General Electric involves constructing a 650-kilometer-long, 400-kV transmission backbone from Mtwara to Songea. Then, via a line installed from Makambako to Songea, this backbone would link to Tanzania’s national grid. Tanzania describes the project as its electricity highway, through which neighboring countries also can get connected to gas-powered electricity.

Jay Ireland, president and CEO of GE Africa, says, “We are in the process of reviewing various technology solutions with Symbion related to the quality of the fuel, intended performance specifications for the plant and other aspects.”

Hinks says the team plans to employ “the very latest, state-of-the art low-emission and low-noise gas turbines, similar to those we have at the Ubungo Symbion powerplant.”

Aldwych International also plans to invest at least $1.1 billion in Kenya and Tanzania in the development of wind energy. The company is a member of a consortium, Lake Turkana Wind Power, which is developing a 300-MW wind farm in northern Kenya for $790 million. The project already has reached a financial close.

Harith General Partners will invest $70 million in a wind project in Kenya and help in the establishment of a $500-million new fund to finance renewable energy in the region. Further, Husk Power Systems will install 200 biomass-based mini powerplants in Tanzania.

Through its five-year Growth and Transformation Plan, Ethiopia hopes to increase its power generation capacity to 10,000 MW from 2,000 MW by 2015.

Using public-private partnerships, the goverment of Ghana wants to increase generation to 5,000 MW from the current 2,000 MW through investment in thermal and renewable-energy technologies. Under the country's renewable-energy strategy, the country wants to generate 10%—up from the current 1%—of its total energy mix from renewables by 2020.

A government agency, Volta River Authority is developing a 150-MW wind project and a 2-MW solar plant.

In Liberia, the U.S. Agency for International Development is supporting the $18.9-million Liberia Energy Sector Support Project, which, among other objectives, hopes to promote clean-energy development with four pilot hydro and biomass electric power projects.