The Malawi-Mozambique Power Interconnection Project has received a grant approval of $ 2.15 million (about K3.8 billion) to update its feasibility and environmental and social impact assessment (Esia) studies.
The studies, expected to take 12 months from February 2026, will be an update to the studies that Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Limited undertook in 2008 on the Nkhoma-Kasungu-Mzimba-Bwengu-Karonga transmission line.
The exercise is also expected to review the studies that Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited undertook in Tanzania side in 2022.
The application for the grant, which has been approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance Governing Committee, was made by the governments of Malawi and Tanzania through the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the feasibility and Esia studies on the 400kV transmission line to be constructed from Iganjo Substation (Mbeya) in Tanzania to Nkhoma Substation (Lilongwe) in Malawi
In a statement yesterday, Escom said the development comes at a time the 50 megawatts Malawi – Mozambique Power Interconnector Project is almost complete for commissioning before the end of this year, adding the grant approval is a significant step towards Escom’s efforts to stabilize power supply and end power blackouts in Malawi once and for all.
Escom chief executive officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda said in the statement the funding will allow the utility supplier to assess the viability and potential benefits of the project, which has the capacity to enhance energy connectivity and reliability in Malawi and the region.
He said: “We had already started preparatory works for the project. Among others, we already have Nkhoma Substation which will serve as the landing point for the interconnector line in the centre.
“We are on the right track to achieving our vision of becoming a supplier of reliable, inclusive, and affordable electricity in Malawi and in the region.”
Former minister of Energy Grain Malunga described the project as key to the country’s production sector which needs stable energy to thrive.
He said: “I believe this is achievable only if priority is given to the energy and production sectors. That is to say give the energy sector the needed resources to generate electricity and support manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors, which will generate foreign exchange.”
Initially, Escom indicated that the project would be in place by October this year after post-election conflicts in Mozambique forced work to stop at Matambo Substation in that country’s Tete Province.
Malawi initially planned to tap 120MW at about $10 million (K17.4 billion) a month but it was reduced to 50MW at about $4.5 million (about K7.8 billion) per month in the first five years.
However, construction works only started in March 2023, with the Indian contractor Larsen and Toubro Limited, assuring that they would finish by December 2023.
President Lazarus Chakwera alongside his Mozambican counterpart, former president Felipe Nyusi, presided over the launch of the project in November 2021 at Phombeya in Balaka.
Chakwera said the project will upgrade the country’s profile from an observer to a fully operational member of the Southern African Power Pool (Sapp).
He further said the project will establish a transmission link between Malawi and Mozambique for an initial 50 megawatts (MW) to Malawi, which will help to increase availability of power.
The World Bank, the German development bank, KfW and the European Investment Bank are funding the project to the tune of $154 million or about K127 billion.
The country’s electricity demand is projected at about 800MW.
But currently, the country is facing intermittent power supply following the damage to Kapichira Hydro Power Station by Tropical Cyclone Ana, which knocked off 129MW from the power grid.
The power-interconnection project comprises erection of 218-kilometre (km) 400 kilovolts high voltage power transmission line to feed about 50MW into the Malawi national grid.
