MCA project will boost Nkula Hydropower plant capacity

The infrastructure development project, which is being implemented by Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) with funding from Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) under compact project, is on schedule, an official has said.
The compact project, with funding amounting to $350.7 million aims at rehabilitating, upgrading and modernising Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi’s (Escom) generation, transmission and distribution assets.

MCA deputy chief executive officer Lameck Mithi told Lilongwe district and city councils officials on Friday that four contractors—Larsen and Turbro Construction (L&T), Chint Electric International Limited, Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL) and Consolidated Power Projects (Conco) Limited—were making significant progress.
He said: “Contracts for the four were effected on November 9 2015 and have started working. It is expected that by 2018, we should have fewer power problems following increased transmission capacity from 991.5 megavolt amp [MVA] to approximately 1661.5 MVA and increase distribution capacity from 868 MVA to approximately 942 MVA.
“I see power being transmitted effectively to where it is needed by 2018.”
Progress reports from the four contractors indicate there is great progress in engineering works, whose completion rate is ranging from 60 percent to 87 percent while actual construction completion rate is at two percent, with most earth work done.
A report by KPTL, which is responsible for upgrading transmission at Phombeya-Nkhoma sub-lines and Lilongwe-Bwengu sub-lines indicates that engineering work for the two sub-lines are at 87.25 percent for the 173 kilometres (km) Phombeya-Nkhoma sub-line and 56 percent for the 192-km Lilongwe-Bwengu sub-lines.
“Cumulative progress for Phombeya-Nkhoma sub-lines is 44.52 percent and 21 percent for Lilongwe-Bwengu sub-lines,” reads the report by KPTL.
A report by L&T, which is responsible for construction of 400/132 kilovolts (kv) at Nkhoma and Phombeya sub-stations, shows that the firm has achieved 74.72 percent progress on engineering and 75 percent at Nkhoma and 60 percent at Phombeya for earth work.
The overall progress is 11.16 percent with a 5.75 percent variance.
A progress and status report by Chint Electric International Limited, which is responsible for rehabilitating Luwinga sub-station, has finished manufacturing electricity equipment to be used to upgrade the substation.
Conco’s progress and status report shows that progress is still at preparatory phase.
The firm is responsible for constructing new Greenfield sub-stations in Area 25, City Centre, Kang’oma in Lilongwe and Nsonda in Mzuzu and also upgrading Bwengu, Karonga and Area 33 sub-stations in addition to constructing a new 33-kv overhead line.—Mana