2027: The year Malawi may finally see more power

Malawians may have to get used to the dark for longer, as the country’s power generation crisis continues to bite, with some EGENCO units not expected to return to full operation until 2027.

Malawians have to wait longer for improved power supply as the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO) continues to face challenges affecting electricity generation, with some affected power generation units expected to be fully restored by 2027.

This is because the Electricity Generation Company (Malawi) Limited (EGENCO) is still grappling with challenges affecting some of its generation units, limiting the amount of power available to the national grid.

In a statement on the status of power generation in the country, EGENCO says technical faults, damaged equipment and delays in procuring critical spare parts have affected its generation capacity.

As of August 22, 2026, all EGENCO hydropower generation units were operational except Nkula B Unit 6, which has a capacity of 20 megawatts (MW).

The unit developed a technical fault on August 7 and is currently out of service.

Several other units are also operating below their installed capacity.

Nkula A Power Station is generating 24MW against its installed capacity of 35.1MW due to worn-out turbine shaft seals.

Tedzani Units 5 and 6 are operating at a combined reduced capacity of 5MW due to debris and stones accumulating at the intake following the impact of Cyclone Ana in 2022.

At Kapichira Power Station, Unit 3 is generating 6MW below its installed capacity after its original transformer failed in May 2025.

According to EGENCO, most of these challenges have been compounded by delays in procuring critical spare parts over the past two to three years, largely due to foreign exchange constraints.

The company, however, says interventions are underway to restore the affected units.

Nkula B Unit 6 is expected to return to service in the first week of October 2026 after its damaged generator bearing parts and shaft are repaired at the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s workshop in South Africa.

EGENCO expects Nkula A Units 1, 2 and 3 to return to full generating capacity by the end of September 2026, while works to remove debris from the Tedzani intake area are expected to be completed by December 2026.

However, Kapichira Unit 3 could take longer to fully recover, with EGENCO expecting to receive a new transformer in October 2027.

EGENCO says generator transformers are manufactured on a make-to-order basis and can take more than 12 months to produce.

The company says the government has allocated about US$8.1 million for the procurement of critical spare parts, which has enabled it to pay for some of the most urgent components.

Meanwhile, EGENCO says it is pursuing new generation projects to meet Malawi’s growing electricity demand.

These include the 300MW Kam’mwamba Coal-Fired Power Project, the 4.5MW Wovwe II Hydropower Project and the 40MW second phase of the Salima Solar Power Plant.

In the long term, EGENCO says it is pursuing the 358MW Mpatamanga Hydropower Project on the Shire River and the 80MW Chasombo and Chizuma Hydropower Projects on the Bua River.