Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) says it expects the power generation capacity to reduce further to below the current 147 megawatts (MW) as the water levels in Lake Malawi keep on dropping.
In a published update on the power capacity available for distribution in the country, the sole power supplier said it has lost a capacity of 13MW from the 160MW it has been operating on for the past three weeks.
Reads an update: “As the current water levels in Lake Malawi keep on dropping and negatively affecting the flow of Shire River, it is also expected that the power capacity available for distribution will reduce below the current 147MW.
“To ensure quality and fairness in sharing available power, Escom will continue implementing load shedding. Escom will also continue to monitor available power capacity and will constantly review load shedding programme to reflect the situation on the ground.”
Speaking when he attended a joint meeting of Escom and Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) last month, President Peter Mutharika appealed for patience, saying government treats electricity as a priority and assured that the problem would be minimised by the end of the year.
Prolonged outages continue to have a negative impact on businesses, especially manufacturing companies, a situation Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) president Karl Chokotho said will have dire consequences on jobs and revenue for Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe is on record as having said government is still upbeat about the country registering economic growth of over five percent despite acknowledging the possible threat of extended power outages.