International firm to invest in biomass power generation

Symbion Power, a US power engineering and construction firm, will in the next six months start producing electricity from biomass to help narrow the power and energy provision deficit in Malawi.

Symbion Power founder and chief executive oficer Paul Hink  told Weekend Nation in an interview last week after the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) business lunch with President Peter Mutharika in New York that his company would have already started operating in Malawi had hassles to obtain an investment clearance not existed.

“For the last two years, we failed to make progress in terms of having our application processed. Now, with that problem sorted out, we are ready to come into Malawi with our investment,” said Hinks who has spent his life in the power industry where he has been responsible for the operation and construction of large-scale power plants, transmission lines and substations.

Mutharika confirmed the Symbion Power’s plans in a separate interview, saying the need to address the challenge of inadequate and erratic power supply in Malawi is urgent and gnaws at the attention of his government.

“If we manage to address this problem, we are not only going to supply power to more people but also address one of the conditions that is affecting negatively the investment climate in Malawi,” said Mutharika in New York where he was attending the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly.