A 20-megawatt (MW) unit at Nkula B Hydro Power Station remains offline seven weeks after a breakdown, with Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) attributing repair delays to challenges in delivery of critical spare parts.
Egenco spokesperson Moses Gwaza said in a written response on Friday that Nkula B Unit 6 remains on a forced outage to facilitate replacement of worn-out thrust bearing pads and corrective maintenance works on the turbine assembly.
The development comes after the power producer announced on April 20 that the unit had developed a technical fault and was expected to remain out of service for approximately one month while the company awaited delivery of critical spare parts.
However, Gwaza said manufacturing constraints and logistical challenges have delayed delivery of the required components.
He said: “The original equipment manufacturers have assured us that the spare parts will be delivered in the second week of June 2026. We are, therefore, optimistic that the machine will be recommissioned before the end of this month of June.”
Gwaza said engineers have undertaken extensive repairs on the turbine assembly, including rehabilitation of the runner, guide vanes and stay vanes, while waiting for the components.
The works on the turbine assembly will ensure that once the spare parts arrive, installation can be carried out right away and avoid any delays.
According to Gwaza, the utility currently has an available generation capacity of 369.37MW and restoration of the 20MW unit will improve generation capacity and system reliability.
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) data published in May indicated that evening peak demand stood at 401MW.
The utility continues to implement load shedding with some customers experiencing power outages for at least 4.5 hours daily.
Meanwhile, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito described the prolonged outage as unfortunate, saying the unit’s restoration should be treated as a priority.
He said 20MW is significant for Malawi and restoration of the unit can help ease power outages.
He said: “If the issue is about foreign exchange, relevant authorities should help to ensure the unit returns to service.”
Egenco has a total installed generation capacity of 444.67MW, with 390.15MW from hydro power plants, 53.22MW from thermal power plants and 1.3MW from solar power plants.
