Machine damage creates 111MW electricity deficit
Damage to an Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) power production machine has left Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) with a 111 megawatts (MW) deficit, leading to increased hours of power rationing.
Escom chief operating officer Maxwell Mulimakwenda, in an interview yesterday after some customers on Wednesday experienced blackouts lasting more than eight hours—almost double the prescribed 4.5 hours—said Egenco was supplying about 264MW.

“Egenco already has one unit which has been down since January last year and is expected to be restored in November. So, whenever another machine fails, that significantly affects supply,” he said.
Mulimakwenda said solar power sources contribute 84MW to the national grid during the day, but is not available in the evening when demand peaks.
Egenco chief executive officer Maxon Chitawo was yet to respond to The Nation questionnaire by press time at 9pm yesterday
But in August he said the faulty 31MW unit at Tedzani Hydro Power Station was scheduled to be fixed by October or November this year because Egenco was still waiting for spares from abroad.
Meanwhile, Mulimakwenda said Escom has not been able to conduct as much maintenance during the dry season because the supplier of poles could not import creosote used fortreating the poles due to lack of foreign exchange.
Commenting on the power supply situation, Consumer Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito said it is worrying that power utilities’ services continue to be unsatisfactory despite the company increasing its tariffs.
Egenco, the main feeder of the national grid, has a total installed generation capacity of 441.95MW, with
390.55MW from hydro power plants, 51.4MW from standby diesel power plants and 101MW from solar sources.