Construction of Mpatamanga power plant to commence in 2022

By Bester Kayaye

The Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) says commencement of the construction of the Mpatamanga Hydropower Plant, which was scheduled for this year, has been shifted to next year.


The project, which will see the injection of a total of 350MW into the national power grid will be constructed at Mpatamanga Gorge, along the Shire River.


It is being developed through a Public Private Partnership Model in which EGENCO will hold 30% shareholding on behalf of the Government of Malawi.


The other shareholders will be the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to retain 30% and a strategic partner to hold 40% of the investment.


PPPC CEO Patrick Kabambe disclosed to Mining and Trade Review that the project will not start this year due to on-going negotiations with two international energy firms SN Power Invest of The Netherlands and Electricite De France SA of France which have so far submitted their final technical and financial proposals for assessment.


Kabambe said the two investors have merged to work as a consortium for the project anticipated to be finalized by 2025.


Kabambe said; “We are still under negotiations, the investors submitted their final offer on September 17,2021 and we have just finished evaluation of the proposal, the next step is to embark on negotiations on final details.”

“We understand that citizens’ key instrument is the analysis of whether these companies will be affordable enough to meet current power needs, of which it is noted that this project is worth investing considering the funds being spent in maintaining gensets.”

He also cited that once commissioned, Mpatamanga will double Malawi’s power generation capacity hence paving way for more investment opportunities in the country as major industrial operations have been failing to commence in Malawi due to power deficiency.

Kabambe said: “We have seen many industrial projects in various sectors including mining failing to rollout with some pulling out to other countries due to energy scantiness, but once this project is commissioned, we are optimistic such distresses will halt.”

“And with the coming in of the interconnector with the Southern Africa Power Pool, we stand solid chances of exporting excess power to other countries, equating to new revenue channels for Malawi.”

The project will also assist in meeting future power demand during both peak and off-peak periods, improve the performance of the existing power system due to inclusion of a storage reservoir to support peaking operation as well as significantly reduce the sediment inflow into the Kapichira reservoir, increasing power generation at the plant and prolonging the lifetime of the reservoir.

The total investment on the project is estimated to be approximately US$850-million and a comprehensive World Bank-financed feasibility study for the project was completed in 2018.

During the study, a UK-based global engineering, management, and development consultancy firm Mott MacDonald, Malawi-based C12 Consultants, and France-based biodiversity and ecosystem consultancy Biotope were engaged to carry out the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the project.

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