Egenco outlines solutions to electricity woes
Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) has outlined medium to long-term power generation projects aimed at addressing the current electricity supply problems.
Egenco chief executive officer William Liabunya told journalists in Blantyre on Wednesday that the company is pursuing the projects to double power generation capacity.
The projects include expansion of Tedzani hydropower station, addition of a solar PV plant and diesel power plants to its generation capacity, establishment of a 320 megawatt (MW) Mpatamanga hydropower plant and rehabilitation and modernisation of its current plants.
In the medium-term, he said the company is exploring financing possibility to build a 20MW solar power station which is expected to be operational in the next 12 to 24 months.
Liabunya said the company also intends to expand diesel power plants that are in Lilongwe with an additional 10MW, six megawatt plant in Mzuzu, 20MW plant in Blantyre and another.He said the Mzuzu plant will be installed by the end of this year.
In the long-term, Liabunya said the company is exploring a 320MW project at Mpatamanga, which has kick started with a feasibility study by the World Bank.
He said: “Mpatamanga, though being another hydro on the Shire River, will be unique from the other power stations in that it will have a big dam that will enable us store water. It will provide a means for managing the cascade of the Shire River.”
In an earlier interview, Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bright Msaka implored Egenco to make more investments in power generation.
He said: “We expect the company to be leaders in power generation. We want to find them in solar, coal, wind, geothermal and whatever technology exists for power generation. The company must take lead along with other independent power producers [IPPs].”
Malawi has in recent times been experiencing inadequate power supply and extended load-shedding due to lower water levels in Lake Malawi.
