Kapichira fixing deadline missed
The Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) has, for the third time in a row, missed its Kapichira Power Station rehabilitation deadline.
A section of the Kapichira dam was washed away in February last year when the country experienced Cyclone Ana, incapacitating electricity generation at the plant in the process.
At the time, Egenco hinted that it would fix the problem mid last year, a deadline which was then changed to December 2023 before changing again to February this year.
However, our findings show that the power station was yet to start functioning as of yesterday.
Egenco spokesperson Moses Gwaza was yet to respond to a written questionnaire while Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola said only Egenco was best placed to comment.
Recently, private sector players endured an additional production cost of K443.3 billion between February and December 2022 for using alternative energy sources due to loss of hydro power at Kapichira station.
In an interview yesterday, National Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (Nasme) General Manager Frank Tauzi said power woes continue to cripple operations of most businesses.
“We just wait with hope that Kapichira will start generating electricity again so that things change; otherwise, things are not okay and small businesses are heavily suffering,” he said.
The private sector listed electricity blackouts among key thorns to the business environment last year, saying they reduced production capacity and businesses were incurring capacity losses ranging from 10 to 20 percent.
MCCCI Chief Executive Officer Chancellor Kaferapanjira said last month that because of the shutdown of Kapichira power plant, private sector fuel consumption rose by over 20 million litres per month.
Justin Mkweu is a fast growing reporter who currently works with Times Group on the business desk.
He is however flexible as he also writes about current affairs and national issues.
