Kapichira Phase II switches on this month
Kapichira Phase II Project, which is expected to bridge the power deficit that is the main cause of load shedding, is on schedule and will be commissioned this month.
In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) public relations manager Kitty Chingota said the project, which will add an extra 64.8 megawatts to the national grid, has not been derailed in terms of schedule and consumers should expect an improvement in power supply.
The project, which according to Escom will cost a total of $55 million, is one of the country’s milestones in power generation since Kapichira Phase I which also added 64.8 megawatts.
According to available data, Malawi’s current power capacity stands at 287 megawatts against a suppressed demand of 350 megawatts while only nine percent of Malawians has access to electricity
But the Malawi Institute of Engineers (MIE) was recently quoted in The Nation as saying the country will enjoy a stint of adequate power supply by end of this year before slipping back to the current state of energy deficit.
MIE former president Matthews Mtumbuka noted that mining companies which consume a lot of electricity also want to connect to Escom power, including Kayelekera who have already expressed that intention.
MIE added that technically, Malawi is supposed to have some spinning reserve, excess generation capacity to cover for eventualities like faults on machines, transmission and other power systems, noting that Malawi will be setting up another power-generation plant around 2020 because it takes at least six years from concept to the time of commissioning a generation plant.
Malawi signed a $350.7 million (about K154 billion) Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact, a single-sector programme designed to improve the availability, reliability and quality of the country’s power supply.
The project seeks to increase the capacity and stability of the national electricity grid and bolster the efficiency and sustainability of hydropower generation.
Apart from the Kapichira Phase II Project, Malawi also signed an electricity interconnector with Mozambique which will see the country importing and exporting power.
Malawi also signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of another coal-fired power plant by Intra Energy Corporation at Chipoka in Salima which will generate about 120 megawatts.
