World Bank grants US$350 million for Mpatamanga hydropower project – Maravi Express

* Once operational, this project will help drive long term energy security and support lasting, inclusive economic growth

* Energy access is fundamental to reducing poverty, fostering economic growth and attracting private investments—Energy Minister Matola

By Prisca Promise Mashushu, MANA & Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express

The World Bank has granted US$350 million to the Mpatamanga Hydropower Storage Project (MHSP) that will help in transforming the country’s energy landscape and its economic development trajectory.

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According to a press release by the World Bank on Friday, the initiative aims to expand electricity generation capacity and connect one million people to the power grid.

MHSP will increase the country’s installed capacity, delivering 1,544 megawatts hours of clean and reliable energy annually while creating thousands of job opportunities in the country.

Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Matola, acknowledged the MHSP as a top priority agenda for the government, describing it as the least-cost option for meeting the growing energy demand while advancing toward national access targets.

“Once operational, this project will help drive long term energy security and support lasting, inclusive economic growth.

“Energy access is fundamental to reducing poverty, fostering economic growth and attracting private investments,” said the Minister.

On his part, Nathan Beleke — World Bank Division Director to Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe — said the new hydropower project is a game changer for Malawi: “It is capable of catalysing transformative change in productive economic sectors such as mining, agribusiness and tourism.

“As the country works on driving its economy’s development agenda, this new source of clean and reliable energy will help drive business growth, create jobs, improve the lives of millions of Malawians,” he said.

The MHSP main and regulating dams on the Shire river will generate clean energy and store power to supply electricity during peak demand hours, helping to improve the reliability of Malawi’s national grid.

The project, situated on the boundaries of Neno and Blantyre districts, is expected to generate a capacity of over 358 megawatts (MW), which is envisioned on be completed by 2030.

According to Mpatamanga Hydropower Limited website; project is expected to generate electricity by harnessing the power of flowing water and the change in elevation of the Shire River through two dams, in series, along the river, located between two existing hydropower facilities.

The main dam will be built across the river to store water and create a reservoir and to generate electricity, the stored water will be released in a controlled manner from the reservoir (during peak electricity demand) flowing downhill, due to gravity, through large tunnels into the main power station.

The main dam (55m high) on the Shire River will create a 20.2 km² main reservoir at full supply level, with a total storage volume of 272.5 million m3 (out of which 58 million m3 of active volume – used in electricity generation).

Water from the main reservoir will drop by approximately 66m through underground 2x 900m long tunnels to a 301MW powerhouse located 1km downstream of the main dam.

The water discharged from the main powerhouse into the Shire River (installed capacity of 550 m3/s) will then flow into a 1km² (total 11 million m3 / 8 million m3 of active volume) regulating reservoir created by a 45 m high regulating dam located 6 km downstream of the powerhouse on the Shire River.

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Water from the regulating reservoir will then be discharged into the Shire River through a 57 MW powerhouse located at the foot of the dam (installed capacity of 388 m3/s).

From the upper part of the main reservoir (close to Tedzani hydropower plant) to the regulating dam, the project footprint will extend over 29km of river length.

Energy generation

Mpatamanga  will have a generation capacity of 358MW, composed of the two plants — the 301MW peaking plant at the main dam and the 57MW regulating downstream plant at the regulating dam.

The project is aimed to contribute to reducing energy shortages and enhancing energy security in Malawi. The 309MW plant with its main reservoir storage is designed to provide much needed energy during peak demand hours of the day and contribute to the overall national grid stability with its ability to ramp up or down production to meet actual demand.

Transmission

The electricity generated by the project will be delivered to the grid through two transmission lines — a 64km long 400kV transmission line from the main powerhouse to the existing Phombeya Sub-Station; and an 11.4km long 132kV transmission line that will connect the regulation dam powerhouse to the existing Tedzani-Kapichira transmission line.

Mpatamanga hydro power plant project is being developed by Mpatamanga Hydro Power Limited in coordination with Ministries of Energy, Finance and other relevant government departments.

Deal done in 2022

The project lies between the existing, Nkula, Tedzani and Kapichira hydropower schemes — with Nkula being the oldest, commissioned in the 1960s, whose Nkula A has capacity of 36MW of three 12MW units.

Nkula A was the first major hydroelectric power station built in Malawi in two phases, with the first phase completed in 1966 and the second involved major overhaul of the power plant and expansion of capacity from 24MW to 36MW.

Existing hydro power stations, Nkula (top), Tedzani (centre) and Kapichira

Nkula B was also built in stages in the 1980s-1990s with the first three power generators of 20MW each installed in 1980 and another 20MW generator added in 1986 — with the fifth 20MW turbine installed in 1992.

Tedzani Power Station was also developed in stages, with the first phase Tedzani I, completed in 1973 and the most recent, Tedzani IV, which achieved commercial commissioning in May 2021 to make it Tedzani I-IV — with a generating capacity of 111.7MW.

Kapichira Hydro Power Station in Chikwawa is the most recent that was commissioned in 2000 with two generation units of 64.8MW and a further two units also of 64.8MW were added in 2013 as Kapichira Phase II — contributing 129.6 megawatts on the national grid.

Mpatamanga Hydro Power Limited is a special purpose vehicle established in 2022 to develop, finance, construct, own and operate a hydropower project on the Shire River at Mpatamanga Gorge under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model — with Malawi Government owning a 30% shareholding.

* Weather update

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