Sitation and debris have choked hydropower generation activities along the Shire River, the source of 90% of the country’s power generation.
A combination of climate change and environmental degradation has just worsened the challenges in recent years.
Around July 2019, Electricity Grneration Company(Egenco) chief executive officer William Liabunya told the media that siltation had affected power generation capacity of their stations.
The development reduced water levels in their intake dams meant to run machines to produce power. He cited Kapichira Hydropower station in Chikwawa.
Said Liabunya: ”Silt has reduced the capacity of Kapichira from 12 million to about three million cubic metres. Out of four machines, only three are running but not to their full potential because of low water levels.”
”Initially, the dam was built to move the mechines for more than four hours during peak even eith zero flow of water.”
Egenco’s hydropower plants can generate 390.15MW and 51.36MW is from thermal plants.
The country’s current electricity demand is projected at about 800MW, with Egenco’s total installed generation capacity standing at 442.85MW, creating a deficit of about 358MW.
The gap and the challenges to produce power have always resulted into lengthy load-shedding, affecting the country’s socio-economic development.
These have prompted Egenco to challenge the status quo of over relying on hydropower by diversifying energy sources to increase power generation.
Liabunya said they have embraced long term strategies such as harnessing the sun to sustainably poduce power.
”In 2017, our operations were affected by poor water supply to the machines and the country experienced serious power shortages. We thought of thermal and solar photovoltaic(PV) as a source of energy for the company’s sustainable operations, business and power supply to the nation. We do not want Malawians to suffer if we have no rains,” he said.
The company commissioned off grid solar and thermal plants on two islands of Likoma and Chizumulu. Likoma has solar and thermal capacities of 1.0MW and 1.2MW while chizumulu has 0.3MW and 0.6MW respectively.
Lat Thursday, Liabunya said over one million households in the country are expected to be connected to the electricity national grid from mid-2023.
He said this in Salima durint the contract signing ceremony with Chint Electric Company for the development of the first phase of 20MW solap PV power plant at Nanjoka in the district.
The first phase of 10MW is expected to be added to the national grid by early 2023.
Explained Liabunya: ”I would think of a household with five led bulbs that is 100watts(W), which is one tenth of a megawatt, 1000W is a kilo. This household will require one percent of a megawatts. In one megawatts, you are looking for over a thousand. Therefore, in 10MW you are looking at a million households.
Egenco is financing the project to the tune of $12million (about K10 billion). About 105 hacters of land has already been sucured for the future scaling up of the Nanjoka Salima Solar Power Plant up to 50MW. He said alternative sources of power like these supplement their sources abd help them to continue improving power generation.
”This development justifies our commitment to lunt-term efforts of increasing power generation through ambitious projects and diversified means of energy sources.
”We desire to see a transformed Malawi that has adequate power. We feel duty-bound to make this a possibility even before 2063 because energy is key to developments activities,” Said Liabunya.
The intervention is touted to have a system stability. It will have battery system for stable supply of power to the national grid without power fluctuations.
The battery facility will store a capacity of five megavolt amperes(MVA) and it will cost the company about $4.5 million.
Ministry of Eergy Principal Secretary Patrick Matanda, who was the guest of honour during the event, said it is exciting to add power to the grid from a diversified source.
He said: ”While we have managed to end power blackouts in the country, the need for continued improvements in power generation is crucial for the country’s development.
”We desperately need those interventions so that our industries and the economy continues to grow.”
Matanda said government will provide necessary support for the project to be a source.
Chint Electric Company overseas project manager Dennis Chu promised to deliver the project on time, saying they are well experienced.
Sources: The Nation_November 4, 2021_By Temwa Mhone-Correspondent