Kamwamba Thermo Power Plant – A Relief to Malawi’s Energy Crisis or Another Environmental Disaster?

By Orchestra Kamanga

The Chief Executive Officer for Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) Dr Collins Magalasi says the country cannot run gensets for more than 6 hours because running the generators is much expensive and would not be tenable by power utility.

Magalasi was speaking recently in Blantyre during a stakeholder meeting which was held at Mount Soche hotel.

But with persistent power problems for several years, Malawi now had to source gensets to ease the crisis in a short term whilst it looks for a long term solution.

One such long term solution is Thermo power plant that is to be created wholly at Kammwamba along the Blantyre-Lilongwe road.

Thermo power is the oldest mode of Energy which has been used in all developed countries and abandoned but is still one of the main power source in China and many countries.

Fortunately the government is now embarking on laying Thermo as a solution this nightmare are-thus thermo power plant at Kammwamba.

According to most social commenters, this is a very positive development and they are happy with that indeed.

But one of such social commenters who agrees that it’s time to go into Thermo power, Maxwell Mapemba finds the location of the plant being dangerous to the environment because it is just a kilometer or so from the Shire River.

Thermo power produces a lot of coal residues into the sky.

“A full environmental study site the dangers to the river should been undertaken so that one day we don’t wake up and say that the shire River has been contaminated with local ash from the plant causing death to the fish downwards as well as wearing the power plant,” said Maxwell Mapemba who also operates Gel Stove company at Chinyonga Township in Blantyre.

Kammwamba power plant which will be constructed by the Chinese company will be based in Neno district.