Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) says the completion of the restoration of the 129.3 megawatts (MW) Kapichira Hydro Power Station in Chikwawa District which was damaged by Cyclone Ana last year means more power available for consumers.

Egenco spokesperson Moses Gwaza said yesterday the full restoration means 378.95 MW is available to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom).

Gwaza: Kapichira has been fully restored

Egenco partially restored the power station on April 6, adding 32MW to the national grid.

Said Gwaza: “What it means in terms of power generation is that all the 129.6 megawatts is now available to the national grid from Kapichira and all the power has been restored.”

He said K11 billion has been spent on the restoration works at the power station.

Kapichira Hydro Power Station in Chikwawa District

Escom public relations manager Kitty Chingota said yesterday, the development “is positive news for the country in terms of power supply.”

Kapichira suffered extensive damage particularly at its intake dam following the flooding of the Shire River due to the cyclone.

This forced Egenco to shut down the station, leading to electricity challenges in the country.

The prolonged power rationing, according to Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, negatively affected the manufacturing industry with an estimated cost of K260 million per day, translating to K95.6 billion annually to run diesel-powered generators during outages.

Currently,hydro power generates nearly 90 percent of electricity.

Cyclone Freddy, which struck Malawi on March 12 2023, also worsened power generation.

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