By Kingsley Jassi:
The European Union (EU) has a mission to turn the electricity strapped country into a power exporter following a €500 million package of interventions in the power sector announced on Tuesday.
The amount, according to Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola, reaches €600 million when other interventions by the EU in the sector are included.
EU Ambassador Rene Skinnebach yesterday told journalists that the disbursement follows deals done during the first ever Malawi-EU Investment Forum held last November.
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The package has a number of projects in power generation and transmission infrastructure to be bankrolled, expecting the power output and connectivity to help transform the economy, linking the country to the Eastern Africa power pool.
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The EU Energy Package for Malawi is a comprehensive plan to support the strengthening of Malawi’s energy sector in the years to come according to Skinnebach.
“The Package is aligned with the EU Global Gateway strategy, and with the partnership between EU and Malawi aiming to boost inclusive and sustainable economic growth for jobs creation,” Skinnebach said.
Skinnebach said the package is the result of a Team Europe approach, a collective effort of European Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB) and other European Development Banks like KfW and Swed Fund, EU Member States and their development agencies and EU private sector, making the EU one of the biggest contributors to the Malawi energy sector.
Some of the government entities to be involved in the projects include the Ministry of Energy, the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi, Electricity Generation Company and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority.
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On his part, Matola said the support will finance the long awaited 350 megawatts Mpatamanga Hydro power plant on the upper Shire, eastern backbone transmission line and the Malawi- Mozambique power interconnector to connect the country into the Southern Africa Power Pool.
He said Malawi will start receiving electricity from Mozambique in June as projections show construction of the interconnection infrastructure will have finished after several interruptions.
He is optimistic that such a milestone will be complemented by the EU’s support in turning Malawi into power sufficiency, attaining the power access targets by 2030 when at least 75 percent of the population will have been connected through either national grid and off grid power sources.
