Amid efforts to completely deal with continued blackouts, the Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) has procured ten generators which have arrived at Mapanga Substation in Blantyre.
Blantyre residents on Wednesday witnessed the arrival of the standby diesel powered generators at Mapanga.
According to EGENCO public relations officer, Moses Gwaza, the ten generators are expected to add 20 megawatts (MW) to the country’s national power grid with each one of them producing two megawatts.
He said the generators which have cost EGENCO over US$9 million will be installed at the substation and are expected to start functioning early May this year.
“We are very happy that we have finally received the generators today which are ten and are being expected to add 20 megawatts. This is the second phase, the first six megawatts generators were installed in Mzuzu city.
“We are hoping that we will finish all the installations by end April this year. These gensets are different from those installed in Mzuzu because these ones will be installed in a power house unlike Mzuzu generators which can be installed anywhere since they are containerized,” said Gwaza.
He then assured people that there will be no tariff hike due to the generators.
The publicist added that the generators are planned to run whenever Malawi experiences power deficiency.
Meanwhile, EGENCO is in the process of purchasing five more generators which will produce 10 megawatts for Lilongwe adding up to the already existing ten megawatts.
Malawi power generation woes moved from bad to worse last year with a loss of 20 megawatts (MW) within a week, a situation that prompted a drastic load shedding programme with some parts of the country staying without power over 24 hours.
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