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Rains not enough to avoid blackouts—Escom

 

Rains currently falling in some parts of Malawi are not enough to limit blackouts Malawians are experiencing, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has said.

Escom, which relies on water to produce its power, told Malawians in September this year to brace for extended hours of load-shedding, as it has no immediate solutions to the power cuts.

The power utility company attributed the problem to low water levels in Lake Malawi and Shire River, the major sources of hydro electricity generation in the country.

Tedzani Hydro-power station
Hydro-power generating machines need large0 volumes of water

Although rains have started falling in some parts of the country, especially the Southern Region, marking the start of the 2016/17 rainy season, Escom says the rains are not enough to restart the flow of a number of dried rivers in the country.

“In short, the recent rains are too insignificant to bring any difference in the Shire River flow. The current flow is 115 cubic metres per second [cumecs], against a required of 260 cubic metres per second,” said Escom public relations officer George Mituka in a written response to a questionnaire on Friday.

He said the required flow of water on Shire River will only be achieved when the Lake Malawi level rises to normal, that is, if the lake level gains about a metre which has been lost during the past six years.

“Otherwise, we may have to rely on some tributaries downstream of Liwonde to help in generation if the rains are good in the South. The forecast this year is that there will be heavy rainfall in the South with possible floods. Unfortunately, Shire flow depends on the Lake Malawi level which gets its water from the Centre and North,” added Mituka.

In August last year, Escom announced that the frequent and prolonged power outages would continue to worsen until the start of rains later in 2015. n

 

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