THE POTENTIAL OF WIND ENERGY IN ELECTRIC GENERATION TO ALLEVIATE THEDESTRUCTION OF FORESTS IN DEVELOPING HYDRO-PLANTS: A Case Study From Tanzania

摘要

Dam construction for electricity generation destroys a huge amount of indigenous forest in the initial stages ofthe construction and thereafter. In Tanzania, where most of the electricity is generated from hydro plants,reservoirs are usually built to increase the head of the water level because most of the rivers have lowdeclination. The vegetation around the dams that survived during development of the hydro-electric schemesare further destroyed when harnessing firewood required to dry the harvested fish that are normally planted insuch dams. Introduction of an alternative method, such as wind, in generating electricity, can reduce to a largeextent, this massive destruction of the native vegetation. This papers reports on the potential of wind energy inTanzania and the possibility of using it in electricity generation so as to alleviate the destruction of forests thattakes place in construction of hydro-plants. Wind speed data collected from Makambako (Iringa region) forthe period from May 2002 to August 2003 shows that the average monthly wind speed is 7.27 m/s. Windspeed of this magnitude is sufficient to generate electricity. If a substantial amount of electricity required inTanzania is generated from wind, the current enthusiastic of developing hydroelectric schemes can be reducedto a large extent. Arresting the construction of such dams will also rescue the destruction of natural vegetationassociated with hydroelectric schemes. It is estimated that if the current patterns usage of water in Tanzaniacontinue, there will be no sufficient water to meet industrial, domestic and ecological demand in thirty years’time. Since the water resources need to be considered for this generation as well as for the future generations,it is important to explore an alternative method for generating electricity rather than greatly depend on thewater resource.