19 MEGAWATTS TEDZANI IV INAUGURATED

A new 19 Megawatts (MW) Power Plant, Tedzani IV, has been inaugurated at the Tedzani Hydropower Scheme, one of the Power Stations operated by the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO). The Power Plant, which was commissioned in May 2021 following its completion, was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, 8 June 2021, by the President of Malawi, His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.

In his address at the inauguration ceremony, President Chakwera stressed that electricity is very crucial for national development and in fulfilling the country’s vision.

“If we don’t get things right in our power supply service, it will have a knock-on effect on our vision to create jobs, create wealth, and create food security. The indispensability of electricity to our vision is indisputable.” Said the President.

President Chakwera further said that 1000 Megawatts will be added to the national grid over the next four years and that the commissioning of Tedzani IV meant 19 Megawatts down and 981 to go. 

In his remarks, EGENCO Board Chairperson, Mr. Zanga-zanga Chikhosi, said the inauguration of the Tedzani IV Power Plant is a dream come true and that the company plans to implement more projects in order to increase the country’s energy capacity.

“In 2018, we set out a forward looking plan in which we intend to increase power generation capacity by more than three times, from 367.37 MW to 1, 687.5 MW. The inauguration of the 19MW Tedzani IV Power Plant bears testimony to our vision.” Said Chikhosi.

The Board Chairperson further said that EGENCO has plans to diversify sources of energy from the largely dominated hydropower, to other sources such as solar, coal, gas, wind and many others.

Construction of the 19MW Tedzani IV Power Plant started in 2018. While expected to be completed in September 2021, the power plant was completed in May 2021, four months ahead of schedule. The Power Plant’s expected output has also increased by 1MW, from the planned 18MW to 19MW due to design optimization during construction.

The 19MW Tedzani IV Power Plant has been constructed with joint funding from the Japanese government (USD52 million) and the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (USD4.8 million). It is now fully operational and supplying electricity to the national grid and has also increased EGENCO’s power generation capacity to 441.55MW.