By Thandie Chadzandiyani
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawians should brace themselves for continuous blackouts following uncertainty of the commencement date of the rehabilitation of 129.6 megawatts (mw) Kapichira Hydro Power Station.
Speaking to the media on Friday, April 30, 2022 when Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola toured Tedzani and Nkula hydro power stations, the Ministry failed to clearly spell out the deadline for the project.
“We had an K18 billion budget for that project but it was reduced to MK15 billion. We will discuss more when we get there,” said Matola.
This comes after the power station’s intake dam suffered extensive damage earlier this year in February following the Tropical Storm Ana.
The earlier assessment indicated that the project would cost over K18 billion to fix the power source.
However, Three months down the line, State-run Energy Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) has only just been given a nod by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority to have a restricted tender as part of the process of finding a contractor.
Commenting on the matter, Egenco Chief Executive Officer William Liyabunya also failed to clearly disclose when the power plant will be back in operation.
He however hinted that funding for the rehabilitation work is yet to be accessed but not much details were shared.
“There is an issue of financing that we believe, within the next month, should be sorted out. We are optimistic that, by the end of May, we should have a contractor and move on the ground in June or somewhere thereabouts,” Liabunya said.
Commentators have expressed dismay in rehabilitation work adding that it is not being treated with urgency as it ought to be.
Egenco feeds about 442mw into the national grid from both hydro and diesel generators but the collapse of the Kapichira Power Station means the firm can only generate 312MW.
Egenco’s generation capacity is at 200mw while IPPs are feeding about 75mw to the power grid, which means the country’s generation is below 300mw and there’s need for an extra 795mw to hit the 1000mw mark.
As Aggreko contract came to an end last month, about 78mw was also taken off the grid, bringing the total contribution of independent power producers down to a meager of 75MW.
