Minister of Energy Jean Mathanga has expressed optimism that the country’s electricity woes stand to ease with an expected addition of 50 megawatt (MW) to the national grid and an extra 20MW during peak hours.
The minister based her assessment on two projects set for commissioning before the end of this month, namely the Mozambique-Malawi (MoMa) power interconnector project which will add 50MW to the grid and the 20MW Battery Energy Storage System (Bess) which targets storing solar power to stabilise supply.
Mathanga told Parliament in Lilongwe on Friday that works on both sides of the MoMa project, which was initially set for commissioning in February this year, have been completed.
done. | Nation
She said: “We are almost done with the interconnection. The works on this side are done. Mozambique delayed a little bit because of issues along the Zambezi River, but they are done now.
“We just want to make sure that we get the best tariff possible so that we don’t put a burden on the consumer in Malawi.”
Malawi initially planned to tap 120MW at about $10 million (about K17.5 billion) a month but it was reduced to 50MW at about $5 million (about K8.75 billion) per month in the first five years.
In an interview yesterday, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi chief public relations and communications officer Pilirani Phiri said despite the supply deficit, Escom is managing the demand side through reduced loadshedding hours and stability from Bess.
He said: “On the demand side Escom has reduced loadshedding outage periods, giving consumers more predictable access to power, supported by Bess.”
In the campaign, Escom is urging consumers to switch off electricity appliances when knocking off, or when not in use in offices, while at home, it urges people to turn off geysers during morning and evening peak hours while calling for use of appliances such as electric irons during off peak periods.
However,l Centre for Social Concern economic governance officer Agness Nyirongo said additional foreign currency commitments could place further pressure on external reserves.
Currently, Malawi has a total installed capacity of 554.24MW comprising 401.8MW from hydro, 51.4MW from diesel power generation and 101MW from solar sources, according to Escom.
Additional reporting by WYCLIFFE NJIRAGOMA, News Analyst
