Africa’s energy crisis has it playing catch-up with the West, but as the region optimizes its vast untapped renewables, it’s positioning itself as a potential long-term, sustainable provider. Malawi is the latest nation to have cut the ribbon on a green power project, commissioning its first standalone utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) last week.
- Carried out between the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) Limited and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, the latter contributing $20 million in catalytic grant funding, while the government has added $2.4 million, co-financing with ESCOM, BESS is projected to cut carbon emissions by 10,000 tons annually.
- While it is a 20-Megawatt (MW) storage system, by providing a shock absorber, “it will enable full integration of up to 100 MW of least-cost variable solar power that was previously constrained”, says Collen Zalengera, Country Delivery Lead for Malawi and Zambia at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, to FORBES AFRICA.
- Malawi currently depends “on a vulnerable 550 MW generation capacity”, and the inaugurated project is already expanding its energy prospects with ESCOM now pushing to mobilize three additional sites with its BESS.
- Couple this with the nearly-built Malawi-Mozambique interconnector, and it would be hard to disagree that the country hasn’t found rhythm, now on the brink of becoming an influential Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) member.
Malawi is the latest nation to have cut the ribbon on a green power project, commissioning its first standalone utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) on Friday. The over $22-million Kanengo BESS facility is expected to help stabilize a dominantly hydro-powered national grid vulnerable to droughts and tropical storms.
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“For years, grid instability forced us to curtail renewable energy we had already generated and to fall back on costly diesel at the expense of our consumers and our climate commitments,” William Kaipa, CEO, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM), said in a statement.
Zalengera of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet adds to FORBES AFRICA:
“By demonstrating how battery storage can complement existing hydropower in grid stabilization and by solving peaking needs during high-demand evening hours, the project shows that low- and middle-income countries can leapfrog legacy infrastructure and set a blueprint for a resilient power system architecture.”
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