Mining & Trade News

Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda says the long-awaited construction of the 300MW coal fired power plant at Kam’mwamba in Neno District will cost US$800-million.

In the 2025 Economic and Fiscal Policy Statement, the Minister explains that Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) completed a review and update of the feasibility study for the project which established the cost estimates of around US$800 million with engineering, procurement and construction pegged at US$600 million.

In the statement, Chithyola Banda also outlines other projects that the Malawi Government has lined up for the energy sector. He explains that as part of efforts to diversify Malawi’s energy generation sources, the Government is implementing the 50MW Salima Solar PV with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

The project will be executed in phases, with the first phase targeting 10 MW currently underway with civil works in progress, supported by a completed feasibility study and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report.

The Minister also reports that preparations of the construction of the 358.5MW Mpatamanga hydropower plant are steadily in progress. The project is being developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with financing from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The project’s basic design was completed in May 2024 and construction works are expected to commence in 2025/26 Financial Year.

Chithyola Banda states: “There is also outstanding progress on the rehabilitation of Kapichira Dam which was damaged due to the impact of the Tropical Storm Ana that occurred in 2022, which extensively damaged intake dam rendering the hydropower station out of operation.”

“Phase 1 of the repairs to the dam was completed and all three machines at the plant were restored and are back online while Phase 2 of the project which involves reconstruction of the dam structure based on an improved design that will ensure resilience to floods commenced.”

Chithyola Banda also expresses government’s steady commitment towards achieving universal access to electricity by 2030.

He says: “This will require an average of 408,000 on-grid connections, 401,000 off-grid connections per year and substantial investment in generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure.”

“Government will also take advantage of the increasing demand of power within the region to export its excess generation.”

Chithyola Banda also says Government continues to implement the Malawi-Mozambique Interconnector Project with an objective of connecting Malawi and Mozambique’s electricity transmission system to enable the two countries to engage in bilateral and regional power trade in the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).

He explains that the scope of the Project is to interconnect the Mozambique and Malawi Power Systems at 400kilovolts(kV) through a transmission line being constructed from Matambo Substation in Tete Province in Mozambique to Phombeya Substation in Balaka District in Malawi.

“Construction works are underway and currently overall progress is estimated at 62.3% whereas commissioning of entire project is expected between April and June, 2025,” says Chithyola Banda.

Meanwhile, the country’s current installed generation capacity is 556MW comprising 402MW from hydro (73%); 102MW from solar (18%); and 52MW thermal diesel (9%). Out of the 556MW, EGENCO generates 444MW, representing 80% of market share while Independent Power Producers (IPPs) generate 112MW.

To achieve 50% grid access by 2030, the country requires 1,200MW implying the need for additional generation capacity of 644MW.

The other power projects in the Policy Statement include the 132kV Eastern Backbone Rehabilitation Project, which will involve upgrading of the existing transmission network which carries power from the Southern to the Central and Northern Regions in order to improve the resilience of electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure in the country.

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