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LILONGWE. – Malawi’s main power station stopped operating after the Chikwawa Dam was damaged by the heavy rains following the landfall of tropical storm Ana on 24 January.
The country is expected to go through 6 months of power cuts, according to the national electricity company Egenco.
More than 90 people were killed in the storm.
“The impact that we have experienced here because of Cyclone Ana is that we have lost the dam here because the control mechanism that we had to take the water to the intake of the machines has been destroyed. We had the training dyke and that has been washed away,” said Willy Liabunya, Egenco CEO.
Power stays mainly cut, leaving most parts of the country in darkness due to torrents of water-carrying debris that has choked turbines in most hydropower stations – many of which are located along the Shire river.
“For the temporary structure that we want to put up and quickly restore the power generation, we are looking at six months as the time that we will require, but that has to be verified by the consultant as he finishes the expert analysis of the work,” added Liabunya. – AFP
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