Can we get serious on Kapichira rehab, energy?
From the word go, I had reservations with the handling of the rehabilitation works at Kapichira Hydropower Station in Chikwawa since Tropical Storm Ana damaged infrastructure in January this year, taking off about 129.6 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the national grid.
The issue has not been handled as the emergency it is supposed to be. The approach has been business as usual, waiting until July or thereabouts for the Malawi Government to source $60 million (about K61.8 billion on behalf of the Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) from the World Bank for the energy restoration project.
In September this year, Egenco indicated that the 129.6MW at Kapichira Hydropower Station would be restored by December 22 this year. This gave hope to electricity users that they will at least have a brighter Christmas.
However, I still have my doubts even after Egenco officials assured President Lazarus Chakwera about the deadline when he toured the project in October.
Malawians will have to wait longer before electricity supply normalises as rehabilitation works to restore the 129.6 megawatts (MW) Kapichira Hydropower Station in Chikwawa will miss the December 22 deadline.
My fears were confirmed last week when the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change visited Kapichira Hydropower Station to monitor progress of works. Egenco director of planning and development Labren Sondhi told the legislators that the project, which involves restoration of power generation and redesigning the whole dam structure to make it resilient to floods, faced operational challenges which stalled the project for some days. He said this meant the December 22 deadline was a doubtful starter.
For the record, Egenco did not just dream about the December 22 deadline. In fact, it did not lie to the President and all Malawians as it had done most of the project planning as well as construction of the cofferdam, which is the main component of the project.
So, why the shift in goalposts? Who is throwing spanners in the works to delay Kapichira restoration?
We learn that the financiers, the World Bank, temporarily stopped the works for 10 days after learning that initial designs were varied, such that they were not in line with their expectations. Fingers are pointing at the Ministry of Energy as the mastermind of the new designs for the dam contrary to what was approved by the World Bank.
The issue of how services of new designers and consultants were recruited and whether there was adherence to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act is a story for another day. Today my interest is on why the Ministry of Energy did not tell the President and Malawians the truth. Does the Ministry of Energy really appreciate the damage the loss of 129.6MW from the grid is causing to the economy? Why were shortcuts taken?
The new designs, nearly 10 months after the damage was done, will mean restarting construction of the cofferdam that was almost completed.
In a country where Egenco is producing about 220MW and independent power producer (IPP) JCM Power is generating at least 60MW from solar, the 129.6MW is critical. Malawi’s estimated demand for electricity is 600MW, according to the 2021 Malawi Government Annual Economic Report.
Malawians are tired of being subjected to electricity supply rationing due to various factors. If it is not damage to the generation or transmission equipment caused by natural disasters, then it is vandalism contributing to power supply disruptions or, in some cases, inefficiencies.
Besides the natural disasters or vandalism, poor or low financial investment in the energy sector by most African governments, including Malawi, has extensively contributed to the shaky energy mix.
Electricity is a critical factor of production and catalyst to economic growth. Multiple international research findings show a strong and direct linkage between access to electricity and electricity consumption to poverty reduction, social well-being and economic growth in general.
Problems are inevitable in human undertakings, but it is how such crises are resolved that makes a difference. I maintain that the Kapichira incident has not been handled as an emergency. If we were serious as a country, the restoration project could have been rolled out instantly using resources from emergency votes in the national budget.
Unreliable power supply derails economic growth. It is a disincentive to attracting foreign direct investment. It is estimated that power outages or blackouts, the new normal in Malawi, reduce economic growth by between two percent and four percent.
Malawi needs to address the energy woes now, but the dilly-dallying by the Ministry of Energy is not helping matters. In fact, the action portrays the President as someone who does not tell the truth as come Christmas Day, Malawians will continue experiencing power rationing contrary to his promise.
It is high time we got serious in resolving the energy woes.
