The dam and intake at Kapichira
* ESCOM still has a power supply deficit and the load shedding will continue until the power supply meets or exceeds the demand
* The power demand presently stands at close to 400MW against availed capacity of 276MW
* The four machines at Kapichira Power Station generate 129.4MW, which was all lost due to Cyclone Ana
By Duncan Mlanjira
Following the restoration of 64.4 megawatts (MW) from the two machines out of four that Kachipira Hydro Power Station started generating on Wednesday — Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says that customers should expect a reduction in the frequency of load shedding from 9 times a week to about 5 or 6 times.
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But ESCOM still has a power supply deficit and the load shedding will continue until the power supply meets or exceeds the demand, as said by Public Relations Manager, Kitty Chingota.
In an interview on Thursday evening, Chingota said the power demand presently stands at close to 400MW against availed capacity of 276MW — thus load shedding to continue but at least with reduced frequency.
The four machines at Kapichira Power Station generate 129.4MW, which was all lost when its dam and other infrastructure got washed away in January last year through floods that were induced by Cyclone Ana.
Restoration efforts were rolled out immediately that included redesigning a storm-resilient infrastructure as long term solution and constructing a primary cofferdam to re-divert Shire River water back to the intake to restore power generation.
Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) on Thursday briefed journalists during a site visit at the station in Chikwawa that they are still in construction mode to restore the remaining two machines.
Chief Executive Officer, William Liabunya said they had been constructing the primary cofferdam (dyke that diverts water from the river) as an immediate solution to start power generation and now that the two machines are running, they are now working towards raising the primary cofferdam’s height to about 147m above the sea level to increase the dam’s water intake.
CEO Liabunya inside the plant where the machines seen at the far end are functional
He said they set a deadline target of 8 months for the reconstruction but managed to complete works for the primary cofferdam in three months “since we were working day and night, seven days a week as well as during holidays”.
“This was all to make sure we at least complete half of the generation and to continue raising the primary cofferdam to 147m above the sea level to add one more machine,” he said.
He added that they had planned to start regenerating the power by end of March but the heavy rains that were induced by Cyclone Freddy delayed their works.
He said as soon as they received the alert on Cyclone Freddy by the Department of Climate Change & Meteorological Services, they immediately rolled out a training programme for all staff members on emergency preparedness and planning procedures.
“This helped us a lot because we experienced no damage to our machines in our the power stations. We shut down Nkula and Tedzani at the peak of the torrential rains in order to control the huge debris that accompanied the heavy flow of water.”
After the restoration for the remaining two machines — which is phase 1 of Kapichira restoration — Liabunya said they shall commence on phase 2 to construct a storm-resilient infrastructure taking cognizance that due to climate change, the tropical storms will continue affecting Malawi.
In the past five years, the country has been affected by Cyclones Idai, Ana, Gombe and Freddy, whose effects have been very devastating.
Cyclone Freddy alone has been described as the worst in the country’s history in terms of damage to property, injuries and deaths as it had claimed 676 lives, 2,071 injured, 537 missing with survivors now occupying 747 camps in the affected districts of Nsanje, Chikwawa, Phalombe, Zomba, Mulanje and Blantyre — as of the update last week.
Freddy’s effects of a cyclone also incapacitated the energy sector as infrastructure was destroyed for Muloza Hydro Power Station, which was supplying 3.4 megawatts (MW) of power — catering for over 2,800 rural households in Phalombe, Mulanje and Thyolo.
The plant was commissioned by ESCOM on April 17, 2022 by Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola under the independent power producers (IPP) partnership.
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