‘Malawi could save K370bn on diversified energy’ – The Nation Online

‘Malawi could save K370bn on diversified energy’ – The Nation Online: A study on Sustainable Energy Investments for Malawi has stressed the need for Malawi to consider adopting least-cost, reliable and diversified energy solutions to save at least $500 million (K370 billion) on investment and operating expenses.

The study was� jointly conducted by Department of Energy Affairs with the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Rocky Mountain Institute.

Our Comments on Kam'mwamba Coal power project

On 26 Oct 2019 Nyasa Times reported that Malawi has abandoned the Chinese financier for the Kam'mwamnba Coal Fire Plant project. Instead, Egenco would take over the project,  presumably including the mobilisation of funds READ HERE

A few days later we were that the First Lady had been involved with a shady deal through which  “Ghost” consultancy firm - Black & Veach -  was awarded  K7.8 billion contract to provide engineering supervision for the project. READ HERE

A day letter the Minister announced the contract was cancelled or was actually never signed. READ HERE

And finally, the ACP (anti-corruption)  has been brought in. READ HERE

Now, this is a vital project, and we have been informed by the government itself that it is one of the pillars of its plans to address the energy project.  The project has been on for more than six years and should have been completed by now. The Chinese have complained about the delays from the Malawi side.

This mismanagement of large projects is, alas, not unusual. The Salima-Lilongwe project has suffered the same treatment.

We  commented on other p[rojects on the site  about the mismanagement of big projects in Malawi. READ HERE

Electricity and water are utilities that one can't’ afford to miss by a year.

Kam'mwamba and Salima-Lilongwe project are import projects and the government should come out with a full explanation of what is going on if it to encourage investments in Malawi. 

Blackouts as Malawi truckers' strike disrupts fuel supplies

Blackouts as Malawi truckers' strike disrupts fuel supplies: Lilongwe (Malawi) (AFP) - A pay strike by truckers in landlocked Malawi has crippled oil and power supplies, leading to prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages on Thursday.

Over 1,000 truck drivers stopped work from Monday, preventing all lorries from entering and exiting the country’s borders with Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Malawi, world bank Sign k127bn energy deals – The Nation Online

Malawi, world bank Sign k127bn energy deals – The Nation Online: Malawi and the International Development Association (IDA), an arm of the World Bank Group, on Friday signed two financing agreements worth K127 billion towards the country’s power sector. The signing ceremony for the two agreements, namely the Malawi Electricity Access Project and the Mozambique-Malawi Interconnector Project, took place at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C, United States of America (USA), on the sidelines of the 2019 annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund

Coal power plant critical for electricity tariffs—Mera – The Nation Online

Coal power plant critical for electricity tariffs—Mera – The Nation Online: Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) has advised Electricity Generation Company Malawi Limited (Egenco) to speed up the building Kamwamba Coal Plant, saying the delay could affect electricity tariffs in the medium-term.

Mera chief executive officer Collins Magalsi said in an interview on Wednesday at the construction site of Tedzani IV Power Plant after Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining BintonyKutsaira toured Phombeya Power Sub-station in Balaka, Kamwamba in Neno and NkulaA Hydropower Plant.

Trump administration backs largest-ever U.S. investment in Africa as Anadarko Petroleum invests in $20 billion LNG project - Talk Business & Politics

Trump administration backs largest-ever U.S. investment in Africa as Anadarko Petroleum invests in $20 billion LNG project - Talk Business & Politics: Houston-based oil and gas independent Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which agreed to a unsolicited $38 billion takeover bid from rival Occidental Petroleum Corp. last month, plans to spearhead the largest U.S. source investment on the African continent in a deal strongly backed by the Trump administration.

On Tuesday (June 18), U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Karen Dunn Kelley led an overseas delegation of U.S. government officials to witness the historic $20 billion signing ceremony by Anadarko and the government of Mozambique to construct a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal just off the coast of the southeast African nation

SAPP to prioritise Malawi, Tanzania, Angola for regional grid integration

SAPP to prioritise Malawi, Tanzania, Angola for regional grid integration: he Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) will prioritise connecting Malawi, Tanzania and Angola to the regional electricity grid by 2021, with an additional 22 000 MW of electricity generation capacity to be added to the regional grid by 2022.

The SAPP currently serves around 300-million people, with available generation capacity of 59 GW, at a consumption rate of 400 TWh, across 12 member countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, eSwatini, South Africa and Lesotho.

Malawi: German Firm to Install Floating Solar Panels On Lake Malawi for Energy Generation - AllAfrica

Malawi: German Firm to Install Floating Solar Panels On Lake Malawi for Energy Generation - AllAfrica: One of the independent power producers (IPPs) that have signed power purchase agreements with Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM), German firm Droege Energy, intends to install floating solar power panels on the Lake Malawi at Monkey Bay in Mangochi to generate power to be linked onto the ESCOM grid.

EGENCO's CEO Liabunya signing the PPA with Chiwaya QUANTLEL's CEO Fields displays his PPA in company of ESCOM's CEO Dr. Chiwaya The top table chaired by Mpinganjira (centre)

This was disclosed at the signing ceremony of 14 power purchase agreements (PPAs) involving ESCOM, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) and three other IPPs held on Monday at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre.

Malawi seal K94bn electricity deal with Mozambique to start 2022 
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April 122019 Green Muheya-Nyasa Times fisttocomment 

Malawi has signed technical and commercial agreements with Mozambique for the sharing of power in a bid to address a 

chronic blackouts hitting the country that will give Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) an opportunity to buy 

200 megawatts (MW) of power from the Southern Africa Power Pool (Sapp) starting in 2022. 

MW-MOZ secure funding for power interconnection - The Nation Online

MW-MOZ secure funding for power interconnection - The Nation Online: Malawi and Mozambique have secured 20 million euro (about K15 billion) from multilateral lending institutions for the implementation of the power Interconnection project, a move expected to help solve energy woes facing the county.

The two countries have jointly secured financing for the project from the World Bank, KfW and the Norwegian Trust Fund.

Firm to add 21mw to national power grid | The Times Group

Firm to add 21mw to national power grid | The Times Group: Firm to add 21mw to national power grid
Posted By: Tom Sangalaon: February 15, 2019In: BusinessNo Comments
By William Kumwembe:

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) Thursday signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Phanes Energy Limited that could add 21 megawatts (mw) to the national power grid by July 2019.

Malawi launches 20 MW solar tender – pv magazine International

Malawi launches 20 MW solar tender – pv magazine International: Malawi’s utility the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Ltd – Egenco – has launched a tender for a 20 MW solar project near Salima, in the central region of the country. “Egenco plans to install the solar PV plant close to a growing load center – Salima – to maximize benefits to the national grid and satisfy the afternoon peak demand,” the utility said in a statement, adding land for the project has been secured

Egenco, Escom switch off diesel gensets - The Nation Online

Egenco, Escom switch off diesel gensets - The Nation Online: Egenco, Escom switch off diesel gensets
Nation Online February 11, 2019 0 Comments
Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) and Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) have switched off diesel generators due to increased hydro electricity generation resulting from heavy rains the country is getting.

The development is expected to see the twin power utilities save resources incurred on operational costs of the generators.

Egenco positive on energy generation | The Times Group

Egenco positive on energy generation | The Times Group: The Energy Generation Company (Egenco) has said the outlook for energy generation in 2019 remains promising following the completion of installation of generators in Blantyre and Lilongwe that will be producing a combined 30 megawatts (MW).

Egenco also said it was banking on the rains to improve hydro power generation at its power stations.

Egenco Senior Public Relations Officer, Moses Gwaza, said on Tuesday that since December the company has met the country’s power demand.

Govt scales down coal power project - The Nation Online

Govt scales down coal power project - The Nation Online: Govt scales down coal power project Martha Chirambo December 26, 2018 0 Comments Malawi has scaled down the 300 megawatts (MW) Kam’mwamba Coal-Fired electricity generation project in Neno following the financiers’ decision to reduce the loan amount. Beijing, the financier of the project, has asked Lilongwe to reduce the loan amount for the implementation of the coal fired plant project from about $700 million (about K513 100) to around $500 million (about K366 500).

MALAWI: Public electricity company at geothermal school in Kenya - Afrik 21

MALAWI: Public electricity company at geothermal school in Kenya - Afrik 21: Malawi wants to get into geothermal energy with the objective to draw on Kenya's experience. A delegation from Malawi Electricity Generating Company travelled to Nairobi for working sessions with Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and Geothermal Development Company (GDC).
Geothermal energy has a significant impact on Kenya’s energy mix: 30% in 2018. The country’s first power plant (Olkaria I) dates back to 1981. Kenya is the leading producer of geothermal energy on the African continent, with an installed capacity of 700 MW. Many projects are underway in the country. It is therefore from that experience that Malawi wants to learn from.

Malawi’s energy compact ends | The Times Group

Malawi’s energy compact ends | The Times Group: Malawi’s $350.7 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) energy compact came to an end Thursday after rolling for five years.

Among other objectives the compact was designed to modernise Malawi’s electricity infrastructure by broadening the band width to accommodate future investments in addition to bringing additional voltage into the national grid.

Economic Expert Warns on Delays to Sign IPPs

Economic Expert Warns on Delays to Sign IPPs: An economic expert has warned delays by government to bring in Independent Power Producers (IPPs) would derail efforts to grow the economy with 7% per year as touted by President Peter Mutharika.

Gilbert Kachamba, a lecturer at the Catholic University, observed in an interview with Zodiak Online failure to add more power to the national grid is heavily impacting on employment and cost of production.

Kachamba warns that the delays to address power problems have the potential to change the economic course of the country.

MCA-M contractors in north miss deadline - The Nation Online

MCA-M contractors in north miss deadline - The Nation Online:  → MCA-M contractors in north miss deadline

MCA-M contractors in north miss deadline
Martha Chirambo May 28, 2018 0 Comments
 

Contractors working on the $350.7 million (K261 billion) Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) energy compact-funded projects in the Northern Region have missed deadlines in their works.

During a tour organised last week by Millennium Challenges Account  Malawi (MCA-M), the local implementing agency, it was observed that all the contractors have missed the April 2018 deadline.

The works, which were supposed to be finalised in April, have been extended to September."



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World Bank cautions on energy crisis - The Nation Online

World Bank cautions on energy crisis - The Nation Online: "World Bank cautions on energy crisis
Grace Phiri May 24, 2018 0 Comments
The World Bank has warned that the prevailing energy crisis poses a threat to the country’s World Bank Doing Business ranking.

Speaking on the sidelines of Agenda for Doing Business Forum convened by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in Blantyre, World Bank senior private sector specialist Efrem Chilima said lack of reforms implementation in the energy sector is costing the success of initiatives which could have improved the energy situation in the country."



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