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The government plans to increase Malawi’s electricity generation capacity by 200 per cent in 4 years.
- The government has initiated a slate of power projects.
- The government plans to add about 251MW of renewable energy.
The government of Malawi is looking to increase its energy generation by 1GW over the next four years, President Lazarus Chakwera has said. The president listed 15 projects, of which 9 are set for completion later this year. The remaining will be delivered between 2023 and 2025. The projects comprise total capacities of 191MW of solar, 50MW wind generation and 10MW waste-to-power.
The government is also seeking to increase electricity supply via cross-country transmission lines – 50MW Malawi-Mozambique and the 50MW Malawi-Zambia interconnectors.
The government has also introduced considerable reforms in recent years, including the unbundling of the state utility ESCOM into two different companies. It is hoped that the recent moves will increase private sector participation in the country’s electricity sector.
According to SEforALL, the country has one of the lowest electrification rates globally, as only 11 per cent of Malawians have access to electricity. Total generation capacity stands at 362MW.