Verified

  • 31-Mar-2017 | 21:30

NOTICE FROM EGENCO

WATER LEVEL AND POWER GENERATION UPDATE Malawi has been experiencing low to inadequate rainfall in the past ten years. As a result, the water levels in Lake Malawi which is the main reservoir for the Shire River have also been declining year after year. Normally by the month of January of every year, the water level in Lake Malawi is supposed to be 474.5 meters above sea level (masl). This year, however, it was 474.0 mas. This is 1.5 meters below the required levels for maximum and normal power generation throughout the year. The lake levels have been rising due to rainfalls that the country has been experiencing. As at 19th March 2017, the rise was by 0.65 masl to 473.65 masl LAKE LEVEL IMPACT ON POWER GENERATION With such drop in the lake levels, EGENCO Ltd continues to control the flow of the Shire River at Liwonde to ensure that there is adequate water harvested in Lake Malawi from the rains falling in the Central and Northern Regions. The water flow at Liwonde is being restricted to 115 cubic meters per second (cumecs) against the required flow of 260 cumecs for normal power generation. As such, power generation continues to be reduced to about 40% of the total capacity. WATER LEVEL FUTURE OUTLOOK Forecasts by the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services indicate continuation of rainfall. It is therefore expected that the water level in the lake will continue rising. EGENCO will continue monitoring the water situation and power generation will improve when the water levels are ascertained to have risen to the required levels.

Location