About the Project
The Malawi Emergency Power Restoration Project (MEPRP) aims to restore power supply that was affected due to Cyclone Ana.
Malawi was affected by a tropical storm, Cyclone Ana, which hit most parts of the Southern Region that resulted from a heavy downpour that lasted for about three days around January 24, 2022. This caused a lot of damage to infrastructure and the environment including peoples’ homes, crop fields and road network.
The Cyclone also affected hydro-power generation facilities of Kapichira Station belonging to Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited that resulted in overtopping of the river training dike and fuse plug, erosion of the main dam slopes and damage to steel structures on the spillway bridge of the station. Apart from the permanent structures, the storm/floods also washed away heavy machinery on the dike and water vessels from where they were docked. Such being the case, Kapichira Power Station could no longer generate power amounting to 129.6MW, reducing EGENCO’s power generation capacity by 32%, and consequently reducing the power available to the national grid.
Due to the floods, the water level overtopped (rose above) the training dike and washed away a significant portion. As of 25 January, the remaining dike was mostly submerged with only some few sections visible. This resulted in the flow of Shire River reverting to the original regime as opposed to going around the dike as initially intended during the construction of Kapichira Hydropower Plant.
Following the water overtopping the training dike, the fuse plug was also breached by the floods, completely eroding it, including the cofferdam of the Shire Valley Transformation Programs (SVTIP) irrigation intake. Slopes of the main dam also suffered acute damage in various sections. Most of the rock fill at the near side slope eroded away with the floods and sections of the far side slope also being eroded.
Further, dredging pipes at the intake that were anchored were ripped out of their anchorage towards the far side slope. Damage on the far side slope of the main dam indicated some damage to the core of the dam.
Energy restoration to be implemented through raising water levels back to operational levels and by developing a temporary coffer dam upstream of the damaged infrastructure (the fuse plug and 200m damaged section of the embankment dam) in order to restore impoundment of the reservoir.
This phase would aim at (i) rehabilitating damaged infrastructure, (ii) upgrading the Kapichira power plant to enhance the resilience of the hydropower scheme, and (iii) supporting companion actions on O&M and importantly sediment management.
Info Centre
| Title | Size | Date added | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egenco Access to Information Manual | 1.10 MB | 18-09-2024 | Download |
| Stakeholder Engagement Plan-Malawi Emergency Power Restoration Project | 773.22 KB | 24-05-2022 | Download |
| Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) Emergency Power Restoration Project | 454.48 KB | 07-06-2022 | Download |