Local Firm Plans To Inject $600m In Malawi’s Clean Energy

MALAWI. Lilongwe: A local firm SimEnergy says it plans to open a clean coal plant in Malawi’s northern district of Rumphi.

Electricity is a challenge in the southern African country with only 18 percent of the population having access to electricity, according to latest figures from the World Bank.

Chief Executive Officer for SimEnergy Simeon Chisambiro told Transcontinental Times in an interview that once installed the plant will be the first in the southern African region to use what they call ‘supercritical technology’.

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“The plant will have a high thermal efficiency of 80 percent, unlike ordinary plants who have a thermal efficiency of 40 percent.” he said.

State-owned company

Malawi used to have a state-owned company Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM), as a sole generator and supplier of electricity.

However in 2016, parliament allowed new entrants in the energy sector to act as independent power producers who will generate and sell power to the state-owned company.

Malawi currently has 10 licensed independent power producers most of them from Asia including JCM Matswani Solar of Japan.