Escom yet to restore high voltage power lines

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) public relations manager Kitty Chingota says it will take some time to restore high voltage power lines in some districts affected by Cyclone Freddy.

She said this on Sunday during a damage assessment tour of Thyolo, Mulanje and Phalombe districts.

She said: “Factors delaying total restoration of the affected districts include accessibility of areas where our transformers and power lines are affected, availability of replacement materials in our warehouses, severity of the damages and weather conditions as the rains have not completely stopped.”

Chingota said the Mulanje- Thyolo transmission line has been cut off at Thuchila River, which led to a power outage in Thyolo and some parts of Mulanje.

“Our engineers have turned to the Chigumula transmission line to restore power in Thyolo. This means the district does not have any back-up should the Chigumula line have a challenge,” she said.

Chingota said it will take some time to restore power on the Mulanje side as it requires to redesign the transmission line.

A resident of Bvumbwe in Thyolo Masangwa Johnny said they spent 10 days without power.

“We are just trying to survive. We had fresh food in the refrigerator but it went bad,” he said.   

Phalombe resident Boyd Mapira said the power outage has affected his business.

He asked Escom to speed up rehabilitation works to restore power in the district.

Despite damaging the electricity infrastructure, Cyclone Freddy also caused damage to roads and buildings.

Last year, Cyclone Ana damaged Kapichira Hydro-Power Station, taking off 129 megawatts from the national grid.