Fresh from prolonged loadshedding hours during the long Easter weekend, Malawians on Tuesday endured a nationwide blackout that disrupted businesses for at least two hours.
Shortly after the power outage at 12.09pm, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) issued a brief notice which, however, fell short of explaining the cause, just as in previous similar situations.
Reads the statement: “We experienced a system shutdown at 12.09pm on Tuesday, 22nd April 2025. We are yet to establish the cause of the nationwide system shutdown. Consequently, most parts of the country do not have power supply. We have stepped up efforts to restore the power supply in the shortest time possible.”
In recent years, nationwide power outages due to system shutdown have become a common occurrence as observed in preceding months.
Escom has on all occasions indicated that it was investigating the cause of the nationwide power outages, but has failed to come back to the public to explain its findings.
But Escom spokesperson Peter Kanjere, in an interview on Tuesday, said the duration for investigations on causes of such system shutdowns vary depending on several factors and can last for months.
He said: “These reports are then submitted to the relevant authorities and used for further learning in terms of managing the network. Our network is unique in that it is isolated from our neighbours.
“These standalone networks are usually vulnerable to shocks. We believe these national system shutdowns will greatly be minimised when we get connected to the Sapp [Southern Africa Power Pool] via the Moma [Mozambique-Malawi Power Transmission Project] later this year.”
Sapp is a regional electricity interconnector promoting electricity trade and reliability in Southern Africa of which Escom is a member. It is involved in the regional electricity grid, including the Moma which will allow Malawi to import power from Mozambique.
Regarding on Tuesday’s nationwide power outage, Kanjere said the focus was on ensuring speedy power restoration in affected areas. He said that as of 2.14pm, power had been restored in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
He said that by 2.16pm, power was restored in Mzuzu and surrounding areas.
In his reaction on Tuesday, Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito said Escom as a taxpayer-funded institution needs to be held accountable for all the times it put Malawians in the dark.
He also faulted both Escom and Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) for subjecting consumers to poor services, including prolonged blackouts in times when they need electricity the most such as Easter holiday.
Kapito said this year’s Easter has been one of the worst holidays for Malawians due to prolonged blackouts.
“We are appealing to top authorities, including the President to understand the pain that consumers are going through as a result of inefficiencies at Escom and Egenco. It is time that some level of maturity was pumped into Escom and Egenco. We are tired and we can no longer accept poor services,” he said.
In February this year, Kapito also faulted Escom for implementing a 16 percent electricity tariff which he described as wrongly timed considering that the power utility’s performance was marred by power rationing and other shortfalls to the dissatisfaction of consumers.
Egenco spokesperson Moses Gwaza could not be reached for comment.
During the Easter holiday, Malawians were subjected to more than 12 hours loadshedding daily following a planned outage to pave the way for maintenance at Nkula A and Nkula B Hydro Power Stations.
The maintenance works, which started on Thursday and ended on Monday afternoon, involved removal of remnant cofferdam secant piles and preventive maintenance on machines and associated auxiliary plants.
The situation led to reduced water intake capabilities, subsequently affecting power generation at Nkula A machines.
On Monday, Egenco issued a notice stating that it had successfully completed its maintenance works.
“As at 17.36 hours on Monday, 21st April 2025, the first machine at Nkula Power Station was brought back online with others to follow immediately. At press time, six of the eight machines at Nkula Power Station were back online and work to bring the machines is ongoing,” part of the statement reads.
Malawi has a total installed capacity of 554.24 megawatts (MW) comprising 401.8MW from hydro, 51.4MW from diesel power generation and 101MW from solar sources, according to Escom.
The Malawi Government targeted to reach 1 000MW by 2025, however the target is set to be missed.
