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dam-l Hydro doesn't solve Malawi blackouts/LS

Multi-Million Dollar Power Project Afoot in Malawi
                  ( April 26, 2000 )

                  Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) (Panafrican News Agency, April
26, 2000) -
                  Malawi's state-run power company, Electricity Supply
Corporation of Malawi,
                  has concluded an ambitious seven-year 5.9 billion kwacha
(130 million US
                  dollars) hydro electric power scheme, its officials have
disclosed.

                        However, they said the development will not
necessarily mean the end of
                  perennial persistent power cuts now rife in the country.

                        Though expected to add 128 megawatts into the
industry by 2003 to
                  supplement the current 215 megawatts capacity, the
development will still face
                  transmission problems, the corporation's project manager,
Lameck Nchembe,
                  said.

                        He added that while the project would have
increased the firm's power
                  generation capacity, the problem of blackouts will not be
solved immediately due
                  to transmission problems.

                        "Blackouts arise from the aged distribution network
materials. That's what
                  we need and not (extra power) generation," he told PANA.

                        Nchembe said in 1998 there was a demand of 190
megawatts, which could
                  easily have been met by the corporation if its
transmission lines were capable of
                  taking the load.

                        To bridge the gap, the revenue generated from the
sale of power from the
                  scheme will be used to rehabilitate the decaying
distribution network.

                        The corporation has been at the centre of finger
pointing by the private
                  sector, which accuses it of sabotaging industrial
production with its frequent
                  power cuts.

                        Analysts say the corporation's failure to address
power problems has been a
                  major contributing factor to the country's poor economic
performance.

                        The country's industry, especially the
manufacturing sector, has suffered the
                  blunt of power cuts with some resorting to using
expensive generators to
                  maintain power supply.

Sandy Buffett
Project Coordinator
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