Portuguese firm to investigate viability of 200 MW Malawi hydropower plant
Malawi has contracted Portuguese company Coba Consultores de Engenharia to conduct a feasibility study into a 200 MW hydropower plant on the Shire river.
Joseph Kalowekamo, energy spokesperson at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, says the feasibility study is being financed using a $3.04-million grant from the African Development Bank and $230 000 from Malawi’s fiscus.
Kalowekamo says the Malawi government is mulling roping in a private partner into the project, which is expected to cost over $300-million.
“A public–private partnership financing model is preferred for this project, considering the huge electricity generation capacity of the plant and the perceived investment risk by the private sector, if a private developer were to go it alone.”
Kalowekamo says construction of the planned Kholombidzo hydropower plant, which is expected to play a major role in curbing the country’s power crisis, is scheduled to start in 2018, with completion scheduled for 2021.
Malawi is currently in the throes of a power crisis attributable to inadequate generation capacity. Its installed generation capacity of 351.75 MW is far short of demand of over 450 MW, which is projected to grow to over 1 000 MW by 2020.
The country is encouraging independent power producers (IPPs) to venture into the generation sector as it battles to meet this growing demand. It has started working on reforming its tariff structure to make it attractive to the IPPs.
Up to 99% of the country’s electricity is generated at hydropower stations on the Shire river, with 4.5 MW generated on the Wovwe river.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
