Print this page

Kapichira May Not Be Operational Soon - Minister

Matola (left) during the tour Matola (left) during the tour - pic by Elijah Phompho

The newly appointed Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola has hinted that considering the extent of damage at Kapichira power station, it may take a little longer before the power plant comes back into operation.

The Minister has therefore appealed for patience among Malawians as government is working to revive the 132 megawatts power station which has been severely damaged by the Tropical cyclone Ana.

Matola made the appeal over the weekend when he toured   the power plant where he   appealed for financial assistance from the international partners to help government in having the power plant back into operation.

"We have seen the damage; it is very huge. The shire river has completely changed its course and as such it is no longer passing through the power plant's machine intake. Its reservoir has been completely silted. It is therefore important for people to understand the situation we are in," he said.

Chief Executive Officer for Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO), William Liyabunya says it will take the company at list six months to reconstruct a dyke which the company uses to divert the shire river into its machine intake. He however said the company do not have the readily available funds for the emergency rehabilitation project.

He added that in the meantime, the company intends to be supplementing the national power grid with other sources of energy such as solar and diesel generators.

Earlier the energy generating body had indicated that it may need close to 20 billion kwacha for it to be able to fully operationalize the Kapichira power plant again.

Read 1688 times
Login to post comments