Restoration of Nkula B’s Unit 6 to be completed by October 31

* 20MW of electricity power was lost off the national grid since August due to Unit 6’s mechanical fault, which was sent to South Africa for repairs

* Other spare parts on the way to repair other machines, which are not operating on optimal speed

By Duncan Mlanjira

Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) has assured that restoration of Unit 6 at its Nkula B Hydro Power Station, which developed a mechanical fault, is set to be completed by October 31.

This was  guaranteed by EGENCO Chief Executive Officer, William Liabunya on Tuesday during a progress assessment tour by Minister of Energy Jean Mathanga.

Due to the Unit 6’s mechanical fault,  20MW of electricity power was lost off the national grid since August and the machine’s critical shaft had to be sent to South Africa for repairs.

It arrived in the first week of October and engineers went straight to assemble it back into place.

Liabunya further stated that efforts are being made to ensure end of continued power outages by December since other repair works are expected for Nkula A and Kapichira.

He indicated that Nkula A is also not operating at optimal levels as 11MW is off the grid but spare parts were already secured from outside the country and are in transit.

He also six 6MW is off at Kapichira Hydropower Station due to a damaged generator transformer, whose replacement was too small and had to be ordered outside the country.

Liabunya indicated that generator transformers are procured under ‘make-to-order’ basis and takes over 12 months to manufacture thus it will be shipped to Malawi in October 2027.

Minister Mathanga expressed her satisfaction of the restoration efforts, and added that the government is taking all steps to ensure that all machines are operating on optimal conditions.

She also indicated that there are other efforts for optimal power production through renewable energy (solar) and the Mozambique-Malawi (MO-MA) power interconnection.

All the engineering systems for MO-MA were completed and that the distribution lines were successfully energised but awaiting commercial processes to make the tariff very affordable.