Kapichira rehab lauded
Rehabilitation works to restore 129 megawatts (MW) at Kapichira Hydro Power Station in Chikwawa has excited the business community who says the project will end costly power rationing affecting economic growth.
The community said this in interviews on Wednesday after President Lazarus Chakwera toured the project and learnt that progress stood at 45 percent.
The power station was completely damaged by the impact of Cyclone Ana in January this year, taking away 129 megawatts from the national grid.
This led the country to have continuous power blackouts that affected business operations and general livelihood.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Economics Association of Malawi executive director Frank Chikuta said energy is key as it drives economies.
He said: “Energy is key for a county to produce enough goods and services, it requires reliable power.”
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Lekani Katandula said the business community is greatly encouraged to learn that the restoration works are progressing well and on course to meet the commitment to restore normal power supplies by Christmas.
“This will help ease the power shortage challenge that has slowed down many businesses,” he said.
Speaking after the tour, Chakwera said he was convinced that the plant will be up and running by December.
He said: “Nobody is happy with the current blackouts. I asked them [Electricity Generation Company-Egenco] if we are making any progress and they have told me that by December we will reduce the current blackouts.
“Before the damage at Kapichira, our plan was to increase generation capacity to 1 000 megawatts by 2025, but we were drawn back.”
The President further called on all sectors to work together for the betterment of Malawi.
By December, Egenco plans to complete the first phase of the project, the restoration of the power plant which includes reopening of the water channel to divert water from natural flow of the river to the intake, repairing spill-way gates [gates which control water levels], repairing damaged spots in the dam and removing silt and rocks which blocked part of the plant.
The phase involves the temporary reconstruction of a cofferdam around the mouth of the damaged fuse plug that redirects water to the intake.
The second phase involves the reconstruction of the dam structure with an improved design that will be resilient to the frequent floods the country has been experiencing as a result of climate change and catchment area degradation.
The rehabilitation works are projected to cost K46 billion. The money is part of the $60 million (about K61.8 billion) from the World Bank for the energy recovery project.
Of the total amount, about K16.8 billion was allocated to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi for purchase of transformers and other accessories damaged by the storm.
Egenco will use K18.5 billion to restore power generation while the rest will be used for redesigning and construction of Kapichira Dam.
Malawi’s power generation capacity currently stands at 400MW against a demand of 618MW. However, the projected demand of 618MW is against the current Egenco’s installed capacity of 539MW.
