How Tanzania can tap into energy assets, private sector

I had a discussion with the government and private sector, and we looked at the available opportunities that require execution and delivering the benefits of the resources to the people and the economy.

Mobilising funds to implement some of these national energy strategies has remained a challenge. How can the government address this financial gap?

My role these days as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy has been domestic-focused in terms of our own strategy and what we are trying to do. What we have been doing under President Biden’s leadership is capitalising on clean energy as an incredible driver of jobs, not just decarbonising our grid. We also have a lot of emissions globally; we need to do right by the planet and reduce our carbon emissions.

Clean energy and its supply chains can be huge job creators. Biden says when he thinks about clean energy, he thinks about climate change and jobs. So we are doing a lot of work domestically by leveraging our clean energy assets and supply chain opportunities for batteries and other products that go into clean energy that we will need in the future at scale.

We are here in Tanzania not only to work with the government but also with the private sector to make sure that there is an enabling environment that allows the private sector to develop resources in a way that will create jobs and become an economic engine for Tanzania and the region as well.

Consistent power supply has remained a challenge in Tanzania despite the multiple energy sources. There are calls for allowing private players to enter the energy supply market. What is your view on this?

I believe that countries and their people should determine their priorities and what makes a good public- or private-sector investment. We [the US] come here in the spirit of partnership, meeting with the government and the private sector, and looking at ways we can support and help with our technical expertise to achieve the goals set by the president.

In the US, the private sector is the engine for doing things at scale and pace. It is not the government that does it all. The government sets an enabling environment and offers help in finances and infrastructure, but it is the private sector that takes those incentives and that certainty of investment opportunity and runs with it for the benefit of the people.

95 percent of Tanzania’s energy budget will be spent on development projects such as hydropower dams, liquefied natural gas, and crude oil pipelines. How is the US helping the government implement its energy projects?

We are sharing our experiences. The US has 17 national labs that help us decide what is the right energy mix, what is the right mix in terms of projects [big and small], how we think about our own future and electricity grid, and how to make sure renewable resources find their way to consumers and industrial partners who want to take advantage of those clean energy assets.

This is the kind of expertise and partnership that we discussed with the Tanzanian government and had good conversations about, which will have follow-up and follow-through.

Tanzania is blessed with a variety of renewable assets and resources, so there’s an opportunity for bigger projects that will benefit the community, but it is up to the Tanzanian people and government to decide the right energy mix.

The primary source of energy in the US is fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal). These are sources that Tanzania is trying to distance itself from. How, then, is the US helping Tanzania move toward renewable energy when you are also still reliant on fossil fuels?

Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration is not just talking about decarbonisation and doing right by our own emissions profile; we are actually walking the talk.

Just over the three and a half years that we have been in power, we have actually gone from a trajectory of reducing our emissions by 20 percent by 2030 to currently 40 percent.

20 percent was a significant reduction, but it is not near where we need to be in terms of reducing our emissions given our significant energy and carbon footprint. So we are now on a trajectory to reduce our emissions by 40 percent.

There’s a huge opportunity to work in partnership with other countries around the world, including Tanzania, on the value chains of these clean energy goods.

I’m a firm believer that when countries have minerals and energy resources, it’s the people who should be the primary beneficiaries.

You are also exploring the mineral sector in Tanzania. How are you engaging the government to unlock the full potential of its mineral wealth?

We had a good discussion with the Deputy Minister of Minerals about how we can help Tanzania move up the value chain. It’s not just about mining and getting the value of the materials that are being mined; it’s also about how you do the processing and value addition so that Tanzanian people can benefit from the abundant resources.

Only two African countries have nuclear power programs: South Africa and Egypt. How can nuclear be part of the energy mix and other low-carbon energies such as hydro, wind, and solar?

It is up to the countries to decide if nuclear is part of the energy mix that they want to have. There are existing nuclear reactors, and there’s what we call small modular reactors, which are reactors of the future. 20 percent of electricity in the US is generated by nuclear fusion power.

We are always open to talking to countries that are considering this clean energy generation source to see if it is the right fit for them. But it will be the countries that decide whether nuclear is what they want.

Does Tanzania have that potential?

We are happy to engage the Tanzanian government about any potential clean energy source that they are interested in. A lot of what we do is reduce the costs of the different technologies and make the financing work, whether it’s for Tanzania or a different part of the world.

Tanzania’s Attorney General recently ordered a review of the protracted LNG contract agreement. Are you concerned about the actionability and implementation of some of these agreements?

Life is about execution and timing. There is a particular opportunity for Tanzania right now in a variety of mineral resources, including critical minerals that are going to be needed at such huge volumes to power our electric vehicles, to go into solar PVs, magnets that power our wind turbines, and all the other clean technologies of the future. So a lot of this is about timing, and there is no doubt that execution is a big deal.