Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) has expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of progress at its Salima Solar Power Project.
The power producer says it has since written the contractor, Chint Electric, to fast-track the project, which will enable thousands of Malawians to access electricity.
Egenco, which is implementing a $12 million (K21 billion) 10-megawatts (MW) solar farm project in Salima, said the contractor is yet to come in the country, making it difficult to actively engage them.
status of the project | George Lumwira
Speaking during a site visit on Friday, Egenco chief executive officer Maxon Chitawo said although the project has registered progress, there is need for the contractor to speed up the works.
He said: “The contractor is expected to facilitate the last works while the commissioning engineer has to certify the work.
“But that engineer is yet to come and we have requested for his passport and visa from China. The Immigration Department has facilitated the whole process, but we don’t know why they are doing that.”
On his part, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola said he has delegated Secretary for Energy to take up the issue with Egenco management to ensure that the project is completed on schedule.
“We are optimistic that the project is going to be completed as earlier agreed,” he said.
Matola, however, expressed satisfaction with the progress so far, saying Egenco wants to see the project completed on time.
Chint Electric Company overseas project manager Dennis Chu said they faced challenges on bringing materials for the project, but they are optimistic that some critical consignments will be in the country this week.
The Salima Solar Project is one of Egenco’s solar power plants following the 1.3MW Likoma and Chizumulu plants that were commissioned in 2020.
About 105 hectares was secured for future scaling up of the Salima Solar Power Plant up to 50MW.
The country’s current electricity demand is projected at about 800MW with Egenco’s total installed generation capacity standing at 441.95MW, creating a gap of about 358MW.
Currently, hydropower is the main source of electricity in Malawi, generating nearly 90 percent of the power along the Shire River.
Ministry of Energy has projected that electricity generation capacity will reach 1 620MW by 2030, way below the 5 000MW target to turn Malawi into a lower middle-income economy in line with Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan.
The ministry’s position is contained in the Integrated Resource Plan for 20 years from 2022 to 2042, which was published in September 2024.
The plan was published at a time it was clear that the country could not meet the 1000MW generation capacity target by the end of 2025.
Among key generation projects the ministry is banking on include the gas power plant of 50MW, Wovwe, Nyika Mbongozi and Thyolo hydro power plants which will add 320MW and the 300MW Mpatamanga Hydro Power Plant between 2028 and 2030.
