Africa-Press – Malawi. In an effort to address the problem of erratic power supply, the Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) has engaged an extra gear to develop a 50-megawatt solar plant in Salima. The development comes three months after the company commissioned Tedzani IV hydropower plant, which added 19.1 megawatts to the national grid.
EGENCO spokesperson Moses Gwaza told Nyasa Times on Monday that the project will start in September, with a two-month feasibility study and will start with a quick 10-megawatt injection, which will be scaled up to 20 megawatts by the end of the year. It is expected that within the next two years, the whole 50 megawatt plant should be up and running, according to Gwaza.
“We are committed to ensuring that the current improved generation capacity should be maintained. You have seen that, for over a year now, there is no load shedding in the country. This is what we want to maintained as a leading power producer in the county,” he said.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that the nation has sufficient power generation capacity and that is our number one priority. We want to support government efforts in developing the nation through economic development, and energy is key to that,” added Gwaza.
Since starting its operations, EGENCO has embarked on various projects aimed to improve power generation in the country. Among other projects, it has developed the 19.1 megawatts Tedzani IV hydropower power plant, Likoma and Chizumulu Solar Project, dredging of silted ponds at Tedzani and Kapichira.
