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The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) is eager to join the regional power pool because the link will give it access to a wide power market, deputy chief executive Allexon Chiwaya said on Tuesday.
Chiwaya said Escom was the only power body not connected to the pool out of 12 member countries of the Southern Africa Power Pool (Sapp), which gives a distribution route to those among the group seeking to sell or buy power.
Escom is getting connected to Sapp through Mozambique’s EdM at a cost of about K7.4 billion (US$80 million), mainly funded by the World Bank. The corporation was in talks for the past two days with Mozambican officials to seal a deal that will see it buy power from Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB).
The deal binds HCB, which was the successful bidder among many utility firms in Sapp group, to supply power to the country.
“Once we get connected, we have a route to everyone and can even sell power to the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Chiwaya.
“This connection is important to us because we want to forget these things,” he said in reference to a recent power crisis that hit the utility in March when one of its major generating stations at Nkula B was damaged by flooding water.
The damage knocked out 100 megawatts, throwing the country into panic but Escom worked hard to bring the situation under control.
According to an official from HCB, power will start coming into the country by the first quarter of 2005 when work to build the 220 kilometre grid line from Matambo substation in Mozambique to Phalula in Balaka is expected to be through.
Escom plans to start buying 100 megawatts first but will buy more as demand dictates at home, said Chiwaya.
Escom has the capacity to generate 304.5 megawatts—98 percent of which is hydro, while the rest is diesel—but is only producing 240 megawatts. Demand for power is over 204 megawatts.
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