Kapichira works progress at 45%

Electricity Generation Company of Malawi (Egenco) says rehabilitation of Kapichira Hydro Power Station in Chikwawa is at 45 percent.

Speaking in an interview yesterday during a tour to monitor progress of the works, Kapichira Power Restoration Project manager Harry Msosa said the two-phased project covering restoration of power generation and redesigning the dam structure to enhance its resilience to floods is within  its deadline.

He said: “We have until December to complete the first phase of the project, the restoration of the power plant which involves a number of components.

“These, among others, include 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.”

Msosa said the first phase involves the temporary reconstruction of a cofferdam around the mouth of the damaged fuse plug that redirect water to the intake.

He estimated that the actual reconstruction works minus preliminary mandatory requirements may take three to six months from date of contract with Portuguese civil engineering works firm Conduril Engenharia.

Msosa said 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.

“This will be done after redesigning the dam works that will be done after resumption of power generation and will take three years,” said he said.

The news should comes as a relief to Malawians who have endured prolonged hours of power rationing due to insufficient generation capacity after floods in January this year breached the dam gates and caused extensive damage to the main dam embankment.

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.

Egenco senior public relations officer Moses Gwaza yesterday said the progress of rehabilitation shows that power supply challenges would ease soon.

He said: “There is a strong indication that the restoration works may be completed by December in line with our earlier projections. So far, the works are progressing very well and currently, the contractor is on the ground to ensure power supply resumes soon.

“We are, therefore, very optimistic that we will restore power supply by the end of this year as earlier indicated.”

Last month, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) disclosed that the power blackouts are affecting the manufacturing industry which is spending K93.6 billion annually to run generators during outages.

MCCCI president Lekani Katandula said businesses are spending about K260 million per day to run generators, translating to K7.8 billion monthly.

 “Power interruptions and load shedding has been there for years now. Whether these are due to natural disasters or vandalism or working with an age-old infrastructure to carry out their operations, such interruptions affect industry operations,” he said.

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.