African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1213: Chapter 222: Electrification

October 6, 1915.

Numerous exhibitors and tourists from overseas have been arriving in Dar es Salaam City, and as time progresses, the East Africa World Exposition is finally about to begin. Exhibitors and tourists who either arranged or chose accommodations in Dar es Salaam City still need to head to First Town City to reach the venue.

There are various ways to get to First Town City, but most people choose the intercity railway between the two places, which is the fastest and most comfortable mode of transport.

”The Dar es Salaam Intercity Railway primarily connects cities within the Dar es Salaam City urban circle, including First Town City, Bajamojo, and Soga City, and additionally, the Zanzibar Island and Bemba Island across the sea also belong to the Dar es Salaam City urban circle. However, the two islands are separated from the mainland by a strait, which naturally prevents the railway from linking them.”

”The Dar es Salaam Intercity Railway is circular, and in East Africa, it is considered light rail transit, differing from regular railways mainly by using electric power, whereas currently, most of East Africa’s national railways still employ steam and diesel locomotives.” On the train heading to First Town City, Wang Hailong introduced to Commander Zhang.

The entire line of the Dar es Salaam Intercity Railway is electrified, a unique trait that Commander Zhang could perceive.

Large numbers of power transmission devices are constructed on both sides of the entire line, and the trains on this line do not emit smoke but connect to the power grid through an antenna-like device.

”Isn’t this just a larger version of a tram?” Commander Zhang’s assistant said.

Wang Hailong replied, ”That’s one way to understand it; indeed, they seem somewhat similar. In East Africa, the government has been actively promoting electrification, and rumors suggest that there’s a high probability that the East Africa national railways will be similarly transformed in the future.”

”Electrification...” Commander Zhang noticed this new term and murmured.

Wang Hailong said, ”Electrification is a concept developed by East Africans, meaning the widespread use of electricity throughout society to replace traditional power sources such as steam, considered by the East African Government as a crucial aspect of the second technological revolution.”

”For this purpose, East Africa has built a national grid network covering the entire country, using high-voltage transmission to maintain the stability and efficiency of domestic electricity usage.”

”For instance, about ten percent of the power supply in Dar es Salaam City previously came from hydropower in Morogoro City, which is a significant market share, especially given Dar es Salaam City’s massive electricity consumption.”

”This involves the uneven distribution of power, and the two main methods of generation currently are thermal and hydroelectric power.”

”Thermal power generation requires energy support, such as natural gas, oil, coal, etc., and these resources are inevitably not available everywhere; for instance, Dar es Salaam City itself has very limited energy resources and relies heavily on imports.”

”Hence, much of Dar es Salaam City’s power supply heavily depends on imported coal, oil, and other energies or input from other regions in East Africa.”

”Among them, the most notable are the two major projects of ’Coal from the South, Far North’ and ’Electricity from the West, Eastward Transmission.’

The coal in East Africa is mainly distributed in the southern region, unlike the previous Far East Empire, where East Africa’s coal distribution advantage lies in relative transportation convenience, such as Mozambique’s coal being close to rivers and South Africa’s coal near seaports.

The drawback, however, is that East Africa clearly does not have the massive reserves like the Far East Empire; East Africa’s coal reserves are not insignificant, but among nations with similarly vast land areas, it can only outcompete Brazil, while others like the Far East Empire, United States, Russia, Australia, Canada, and India have abundant coal reserves.

This also showcases the formidable advantage of the British Empire in the coal energy sector, as the latter three are British colonies, and the United Kingdom itself lacks no coal.

Wang Hailong continued, ”The coal resources of East Africa are primarily distributed in the southern African region around Lake Malawi, where coal resources are abundant. Among them is the Malawi Lake Industrial Zone in East Africa, which developed relying on local coal energy.”

”The two most famous cities among them are Mbeya City and Tete City; Mbeya City is a traditional strong city in East Africa, consistently ranking among the top ten cities, while Tete City is an emerging city with the richest coal reserves in the Lake Malawi region.”

”Southward of Tete City, like the South African Plateau, Kalahari Basin, southeastern coast, and Matebel Plateau, are also areas rich in coal.”

”In contrast, north of Lake Malawi is a region relatively lacking in coal resources, so East Africa’s domestic coal energy dispatch primarily uses railroads, highways, and maritime transport to ship northward, such as the majority of Dar es Salaam City’s coal coming from New Hamburg Port City.”

”Besides directly transporting coal, there is also an indirect method, namely, building a batch of thermal power plants in southern East Africa, utilizing coal as an energy source to convert it into electricity locally, then transmitting it nationwide via the East Africa National Grid.”

’’Coal from the South, Far North’ is significantly different from the historical ’Northern Coal, Southern Transport’ in the Far East Empire; the directions are starkly opposite, reflecting different energy distribution patterns in both nations.’

However, this doesn’t mean the northern East Africa is entirely at a disadvantage, as energy is not just coal; the northern part of East Africa holds advantages in oil and natural gas, and due to geographic reasons, it’s easier for northern East Africa to acquire foreign energy supplements.

After speaking on ’Coal from the South, Far North,’ Wang Hailong began introducing ’Electricity from the West, Eastward Transmission,’ which is even more worthy of attention compared to the former.

”’Electricity from the West, Eastward Transmission’ primarily pertains to the advantage of hydroelectric resources in East Africa, where hydro-power resources are particularly rich, closely related to East Africa’s river characteristics; rivers flowing through regions with high terrain drop make hydroelectric potential immense.”

”This causes East Africa to lead the world in hydro-power resource development, specifically the western areas of East Africa rich in hydro-power resources, especially Kasai Province, which has established numerous hydro-power stations. Yet, Kasai Province has a sparse population and undeveloped industry, making its hydro-power resources very ample, thus mainly transmitted eastward through high-voltage transmission.”

Kasai Province belongs to the Congo River basin, housing several critical tributaries of the Congo River within its area, flowing from the southern plateau northward to the Congo Basin.

Kasai Province’s tropical rainforest climate means high rainfall and abundant river water, with seasonally even distribution, combined with complex terrain and considerable elevation difference, enabling nearly thirty-eight percent of East Africa’s hydroelectric resources to be produced there.

Of course, this result arises from East Africa comprehensively developing Kasai Province’s hydroelectric resources since neighboring provinces around the Congo Basin don’t lack the basic conditions for it, like Hesse Province, located in the transitional zone from the Mitumba Mountains to the Congo Basin, also in tropical rainforest areas with substantial hydroelectric potential.

East Africa didn’t prioritize developing Hesse Province but opted for Kasai Province’s hydroelectric resources mainly due to the latter’s severe socio-economic backwardness.”

Hesse Province, however, is a long-established economically strong province in East Africa, launching early in industrial and agricultural development, boasting numerous pillar industries, thus preferring to develop Kasai Province’s hydroelectric resources aids economic coordination across East African regions.”

For example, upon developing Kasai Province’s hydroelectric resources, massive power can be transmitted to central East Africa, supplying central industrial cities like Rhein City, New Frankfurt City, Kabwe City, thus creating substantial economic value.”

Additionally, East Africa’s Government’s prioritization in developing Kasai Province’s hydroelectric resources also considers the initial unfamiliarity and immaturity in hydroelectric and engineering technology, erecting hydro-power plants and large reservoirs isn’t child’s play, where technical inadequacy could yield significant disaster losses.”

Whereas, Kasai Province’s typical sparsely populated geography lets the East African Government operate freely without the risk of catastrophic damage affecting many cities and people.”