Parliamentary Committee asks ESCOM to consider more of urban areas for Malawi Electricity Access Project

* Rural areas are already covered by other projects such as Malawi Rural Electrification Programme

* The Parliamentary Committee impressed with MEAP’s progress being implementing across the country

* Saying it is very important in ensuring increased access to electricity for Malawians

Maravi Express

The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources & Climate Change has appealed to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) Limited to fast-track the Malawi Electricity Access Project (MEAP) connections, especially in urban areas.

The committee’s chairperson, Werani Chilenga made this appeal when he led his fellow Members of Parliament on a visit to a MEAP warehouse in Lunzu, Blantyre and some newly-connected sites to appreciate progress of the project.

ESCOM is implementing the MEAP on-grid component funded by the World Bank and Chirenga took note that rural areas are already covered by other projects such as Malawi Rural Electrification Programme.

However, Chilenga — on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee — said they were impressed with MEAP’s progress being implementing across the country, saying it is very important in ensuring increased access to electricity for Malawians.

“So far, so good,” he said. “We hope that in the way they are progressing, they will be able to clear the backlog.”

On his part, ESCOM Senior Projects Manager, Alex Kaitane said they were on track to reach the target of 70,000 connections by December 2023 and that so far, some 49,000 households have been connected.

“The objective of this project is to increase access to electricity within the communities,” he said. “Therefore, we are targeting at connecting as many customers as we can.

“The target for the whole project, which is expected to end in June next year, is 180,000 customers. We have a mid-year target agreed with our financiers, which is to connect 70,000 customers by the end of December 2023 — so as speak, we have connected in excess of 48,000 customers.”

MEAP has gathered momentum with electricity connections to households now extending to long service jobs, which involve erection of poles.

The project rolled out in February this year with direct service jobs only, as the long service jobs were subject to the World Bank’s approval of MEAP’s environmental & social screening report.

MEAP targets households located within 500-metre radius from existing ESCOM distribution transformers, as part of the government’s efforts to increase access to electricity which currently stands at around 12%.

To qualify for MEAP, customers must have done wiring and paid K93,200 connection fee for single phase connections or must be those who can apply now and fulfill all the processes before the June 30, 2024 project deadline.

MEAP, or Sesa Project — which was officially launched on December 23, 2022 — aims to increase access to electricity in Malawi through medium voltage and low voltage network expansion.

Customers can kickstart the process of applying for Sesa Project connections by collecting application forms from either the nearest Escom office or downloading the form from ESCOM’s website.

Ahead of their 2023 annual conference scheduled for tomorrow till Friday in Salima, Renewable Energy Industries of Malawi (REIAMA) Board chairperson, Soustain Chigalu emphasized on the need to diversify using renewable energy resources which the country has at its disposal, saying Malawians are the least connected people to energy in Africa and globally.

Chigalu said this on Tuesday when REIAMA received a sponsorship of K3 million from Electricity Generation of Malawi (EGENCO) towards the conference, to be held under the theme: ‘Energy Diversification for Sustainable Development’.

He also saying there is a lot of work to meet the sustainable development goals (SDG) for universal access to energy — and renewable resources being the top priority.

He stressed that they have been hosting these conferences for the past 23 years, which they consider as all-important as they give them a platform to take stock of what they have achieved over the past year and where they could have done better.

He applauded EGENCO and appealed for more action in considering renewable resources, saying they made sure they advocated for removal of taxes on all renewable energy products to incentivize the process.

He took cognizance that EGENCO was moving forward in diversification after acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Maxon Chitawo emphasized that EGENCO cannot separate itself from REIAMA as its operations and services are from renewable energy resources.

He highlighted that over 90% of EGENCO’s electricity is hydro based, which is renewable resource and that it also has solar power plants at Likoma and Chizumulu Islands.

“In addition to this — to demonstrate our seriousness in the renewable energy space, we will shortly be launching the construction of 10 megawatt (MW) solar plant at Nanjoka in Salima,” Chitawo said, adding that they already secured the land to put up 50MW that will be developed in phases.

He also disclosed that they are working on installing a 30MW battery energy storage system (BESS) to be cascaded in all power stations, whose batteries would be powered at night so that they should supplement power during peak hours of morning, lunch hour and in the evening.

REIAMA was established in 1999 with the explicit aim of promoting renewable energy technologies in a sustainable manner to the satisfaction of consumers in Malawi.

It draws its membership from individuals and companies who are involved in the production, supply, importation, exportation, installation and servicing of renewable energy technologies in Malawi.

In addition, REIAMA draws membership from organisations, individuals, projects and programs who have sufficient and verifiable interest in the promotion, production, supply, importation, exportation, installation and servicing of the country’s renewable energy technologies.

Guest of honour at the conference will be Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola while an expert clean energy engineer, Schizzo Thomson — founder of Sky Energy Africa, a firm that creates, provides and installs solar energy and backup power systems in Malawi — is the keynote speaker.

On Linked-In, Schizzo Thomson is described as a purposeful driven leader with a strong commitment to making a positive impact globally and that his accomplishments also include being recognized and listed on Forbes 30 under 30 in the technology category.

Sky Energy Africa is a technology-oriented, innovative clean energy EPC Company, which excels in providing tailor-made energy solutions to a diverse array of clients and businesses spanning the African continent.

Its proficiency encompasses a wide spectrum of significant and emerging energy technologies, including solar & wind power, energy storage systems, battery electric vehicles, energy monitoring systems, digital innovation, renewable gasses and various other cutting-edge energy innovations.

Sky Energy Africa — which is registered with the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC), the Malawi Revenue Authority, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) and the Malawi Government (Registrar General) — offers services in Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.—Reporting by Peter Kanjere, ESCOM PRO & Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express