BY STEVE MALOYA
The Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) says it needs at least MK20 billion to renovate Kapichira Hydro-Electric Power Station dam which was severely damaged by Tropical Cyclone Ana weeks ago.
Speaking in an interview, Egenco spokesperson, Moses Gwaza, says much as the maintenance is a temporary one, it is a must-do to keep providing electricity to Malawians who are currently in dark due to the damage.
The Shutdown of Kapichira Hydro Power Plant took off the power grid 130 megawatts of electricity.
Meanwhile, the chairperson for the Parliamentary committee on Natural Resource and Climate Change, Weleni Chilenga has suggested the establishment of additional hydro power plants in other regions saying it is not proper to just rely on one river for power generation.
In January this year, Egenco announced that Malawians should brave for intermittent power outages; particularly during weekends for it plans to embark on maintenance work of most of its hydro electric machines.
The maintenance would cut away 129.6 megawatts from the 441 megawatts from Tedzani, Nkula, Wovwe and the solar and diesel powered plants, which the company uses to supplement to the national grid.
However, before the actual maintenance works commenced some of the company’s machines have been heavily damaged by the recent storm, known as Cyclone Ana, which hit most districts of the Southern region of the country.
