Blackouts to reduce in December — Ministry of Energy
The Ministry of Energy has assured Malawians that electricity blackouts will drastically reduce across the country by December this year.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Energy Elvis Thodi made the assurance when the ministry appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources at Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Thursday.
Thodi said the ministry had engaged the electricity utilities and agreed on timelines for restoring the 40 Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) units currently out of service, while the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) is working to repair and improve its transmission infrastructure.
“I would want to mention here that, as a ministry, we will ensure that we are closely monitoring action plans that we have jointly developed to make sure that all the actions that are supposed to be carried out are actually being carried out in time,” said Thodi.
He also said the Mozambique-Malawi interconnector, which allows Malawi to import 50 megawatts of electricity from Mozambique, remains an important part of addressing the power shortage.
Thodi said the initial power purchase agreement was based on commercial terms, including tariff arrangements, payment security and the ‘take-or-pay’ principle, under which Malawi is required to pay about US$5.5 million monthly for the power it consumes from Mozambique.
He said the two governments are committed to reviewing some of the agreed terms to make imported electricity more affordable for Malawi.
Thodi further disclosed that the government was required to provide US$16.8 million in payment security before Malawi started receiving electricity from Mozambique, adding that discussions are underway to reduce the amount as well as the monthly US$5.5 million take-or-pay obligation.
According to Thodi, the major causes of the current blackouts are linked to power generation, particularly breakdowns of EGENCO generating units.
He added that ESCOM is also facing challenges due to ageing transmission and distribution infrastructure, which requires rehabilitation, increased capacity and modernisation.
Thodi said the ministry has developed short-, medium- and long-term measures aimed at addressing the electricity challenges.
However, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources Tione Hendri said more needed to be done to establish when and how the blackout crisis would be brought to an end.
“We have recommended that we still need to engage them until they give us tangible and lasting solutions to ending the challenge of blackouts and challenges in the generation of electricity,” said Hendri.
Hendri said she was not confident that the utility companies would reduce and eventually end blackouts by December, arguing that EGENCO faces additional challenges during the rainy season, including siltation and sedimentation, which affect power generation.
The Ministry of Energy appeared before the committee alongside EGENCO, ESCOM and the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA).
