Construction works to add 18 megawatts (MW) to Tedzani Hydro Power Station are on course, raising hopes of increased power generation, an official from Electricity Generation Company of Malawi (Egenco) has said.
Tedzani IV Hydro-electric Power Station, which is being constructed by Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corporation, will come at a time the country is facing acute power challenges with generation capacity at just above 280MW against installed capacity of 422.5MW.
Egenco senior public relations officer Moses Gwaza said in an interview on Sunday that the new power plant is expected to be commissioned by September this year.
He said: “There was a possibility to have it completed by March 2021 as the works were ahead of schedule before Covid-19 came in and disrupted the progress.
“At the moment we are in the commissioning stage of the project. Having completed all the civil works and electrical installations, the contractor will by this month end start pre-commissioning tests.”
Commenting on the development yesterday, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito said that any additional power to the national grid is welcome as it means improved generation and supply.
He said: “We need to think big in terms electricity generation. Malawi is one of the darkest countries where almost 80 percent of the population has no access to electricity.
“Much as the current addition of power is commendable, it is minimal when compared to the situation on the ground.”
The power station is being built with a $52 million (K38.6 billion) grant from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency with Egenco contributing $4.8million (K3.5 billion).
Source: The Nation_March 16,2021_By Orama Chiphwanya-Staff Reporter