- The government of Malawi has secured a US$60 million soft loan from the World Bank to rehabilitate the damaged Kapichira Hydropower Plant.
- Kapachira was damaged and lost all 128MW generating capacity due to Tropical Storm Anna, forcing the country to resort to load-shedding.
- President Lazarus Chakwera disclosed this during the commissioning of the 20MW Golomoti Solar Project which uses a battery storage system. Read more
- He said the rehabilitation of Kapichira is very critical because it will ensure that the country stays focused on reaching the target of having 1000MW supplied to the grid within the next three years.
“Blackouts have been inconvenient but Malawians can expect to see a significant drop in blackouts by Christmas,” he said.
Chakwera also instructed the Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, to urgently resolve all government bureaucracy that hinder Independent Power Producers (IPP) from starting implementation.
“I therefore trust you to attend to this matter and give me a report by the end of this month on the status of each IPP that has expressed interest in helping us with our energy needs,” Chawera said at the commissioning ceremony.
Minister of Energy, Matola, urged the IPP’s to speed up their processes within two to three weeks: “With consultation from the Attorney General (AG) we will cancel all contracts that do not show interest in investing in the sector.”
However, JCM Power Chief Executive Officer, Christian Wray, said his company will continue to expand solar energy to make sure the government realise its goal. “The continuous improvement of the energy situation in Malawi is of critical importance to the economic development of the country,” said Wray.
Author: Nomvuyo Tena
Nomvuyo Tena is a Content Producer at Vuka Group and is as passionate about the energy transition in Africa as she is about music and Beyonce.
This article was originally published on ESI Africa and is republished with permission with minor editorial changes.
