Black-out not targeting areas – Escom

The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) says it is not targeting specific areas in the extended load shedding exercise it has embarked on.

Escom’s comment comes against an outcry from some members of the society who feel their areas are more affected than others.

Escom Acting Chief Executive Officer Peter Mtonda told the media on Wednesday that the extended load shedding exercise is equally affecting all areas in Malawi on rotational basis.

“We would like to make it clear that the extended load shedding exercise is affecting all areas equally and that we are not targeting any specific areas,” said Mtonda.

Escom has embarked on an extensive load shedding exercise following a fault on its Machine Number 3 at Nkula Falls A Power Station.

The fault, according to Mtonda, coupled with other repair works has seen Escom taking out 28MW from the national grid.

Currently, Escom’s operating capacity has been reduced to 244.94MW against an estimated demand of 350MW.

He appealed to consumers for patience as Escom is doing everything possible to rectify the problem.

The Escom chief said he expects the faulty machine at Nkula A to be up and running in the next 10 days.

Mtonda was, however, quick to point out that the bouncing back of the machine will not completely eliminate load shedding as the corporation still faces a huge power generation gap which will be addressed when the Kapichira II Power Station comes to life in August 2013.