By Wezzie Gausi:
Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) has restored 42.4 megawatts (mw) of power to the national grid after repairing two of the three generation units that broke down, offering partial relief to the country amid power outages.
Egenco Chief Executive Officer Maxon Chitawo said the restored machines at Tedzani I and Kapichira are now generating 10mw and 32.4mw, respectively, bringing total operational capacity to about 320mw, excluding spinning reserves required for system stability.
“All our machines, except for Tedzani V, are now online. With the two units restored, we are running at approximately 320 megawatts.
“We are now finalising works on Tedzani III, which generates 31 megawatts. The switches that were damaged have already been replaced, and experts from the supplier are arriving soon to complete the installation. We expect the machine to be fully operational by December,” Chitawo said.
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Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda confirmed that despite the restored generation capacity, Malawi’s electricity supply still falls short of national demand, which currently averages around 400mws.
“During the day, supply is supplemented by solar energy, but in the evening from 6pm to 9pm, when solar is unavailable, the deficit widens to around 70 megawatts. This is what causes load shedding,” Kumwenda said.
He attributed the rising demand to the country’s growing customer base, which has expanded from 549,000 to 710,000, and to high power use by agro-processing industries in the sugar, tea, tobacco and irrigation sectors during this period.
“We expect demand to reduce by the end of November, when these industries go off-season,” Kumwenda said.
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Energy expert Kossam Munthali commended Egenco and Escom for improving operational capacity.
However, he cautioned that the gap between demand and supply would persist unless Malawi diversified its power sources and secured sustainable financing for energy development.
“Malawi’s power system remains fragile. Without long-term investment in generation diversity and timely maintenance, these improvements will only provide short-term relief,” Munthali said.
The recent developments come weeks after Escom disclosed that it owes independent power producers K52 billion, a debt that continues to strain its operations and limit capacity to import additional power.
Despite these challenges, both Egenco and Escom have expressed optimism that the restoration of Tedzani III by December this year will further strengthen electricity supply and ease pressure on the national grid.
