The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has installed a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) system to improve efficiency.
According to Escom’s public relations officer George Mituka, the Scada system which is one of the components in the United States of America (USA) $350 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact will help Escom to remotely monitor and control the power supply network.
The corporation now expects improved power supply reliability in the country as it will be easy to monitor and control transmission equipment in power transmission backbone and in most substations, the power utility firm.
He said the corporation expects the quality of supply to improve as engineers will also have instant control of system voltage and frequencies through Scada.
“Under fault conditions, engineers will be able to immediately operate transmission equipment, and therefore, will reduce downtime. It will also help in planning and scheduling activities of the electricity market such as demand forecast, day ahead market, week ahead market, and according to the market rules.
“Scada, therefore, brings significant savings in terms of time and money to Escom and better service delivery to customers,” Mituka said.
Speaking on Wednesday when he led a delegation on a visit to appreciate installation progress of the Scada system at Escom’s National Control Centre in Blantyre, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) board chairperson Right Reverend Joseph Bvumbwe expressed delight over the corporation’s efforts to improve better service delivery.
He promised Escom management that Mera would do everything in its power to assist the corporation achieve its objectives.
The delegation included Mera chief executive officer Collins Magalasi, Mera director of Legal Affairs Ishmael Chioko and other members of Mera management. n
