Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO) has awarded the construction of the 1st phase of its Salima solar power plant to Chint. The Chinese company will build a solar power plant with a capacity of 10 MWp.
The Salima solar power plant will soon enter its construction phase. Project developer Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO) has selected Chint to build the facility in Nanjoka, southern Malawi. The Hangzhou-based company will build a solar PV plant capable of delivering 10 MWp.
Chint is thus selected in a tender process launched since year 2019. EGENCO plans to add battery storage to optimize the power output of its solar plant. But, Chint’s contract is only for the installation of the solar plant. The 10 MWp park is the 1st phase of a project that will allow state-owned EGENCO to inject 20 MWp of clean energy into its power grid.
According to EGENCO, the initial phase will last for 24 months, the 1st six months of which will be devoted to the feasibility study and the rest to the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the solar plant. The state-owned company says it has secured enough land for a future expansion of the plant, which could reach 50 MWp.
The implementation of the 1st phase of the Salima solar power plant will require an investment of 10 billion Malawian kwachas, more than 12 million dollars. The work will be financed entirely by EGENCO’s own resources. The project is part of the company’s strategy to diversify Malawi’s electricity mix. The East African country has an installed capacity of 532 MW, of which 372 MW is generated from hydroelectric plants, according to Power Africa. Egenco wants to reduce Malawi’s dependence on hydropower from the current 95 per cent to 76 per cent over the next 5 years.
