The construction work for the two hundred and eighteen kilometer electric power transmission line that will link Mozambique to Malawi, from the Matambo substation in the province of Tete, will start in January of next year.
The announcement was made, this Wednesday, by the Manager of Major Projects of the state-owned Malawi Electricity Distribution Company (ESCOM), at a press conference in the city of Blantyre.
Alexander Kaitane explained that the delay in starting the project, was due to restrictions imposed by the covid-19 pandemic, which several times prevented technical meetings with the company Electricidade de Moçambique.
"We want to announce that interconnection works between Mozambique and Malawi have already started. The companies contracted to build the line and the Matambo substation are currently finishing mapping the area and surveying the number of families affected by the project for compensation. By the end of January or February, the real work of foundations and placement of poles will begin," he said.
For the Malawian side, the contract is entrusted to the Indian company L&T while Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company, will be in charge of building the Matambo substation in Tete's Marara district.
The manager of large projects of the state-owned electricity distribution company of Malawi (ESCOM), Alexander Kaitane, assured that the works will last one year and ten months, with delivery scheduled for October 2023.
Costing about $130 million, the project is being financed by the World Bank, the Norwegian Government Trust Fund, the European Union, and the government of Germany.
The interconnection, will enable the supply of 400 kilovolts of electricity to Malawi, and is part of the long-term development plan called Malawi 2063.
The completion of this project, will boost the bilateral trade of energy between Mozambique and Malawi in addition to allowing the country to be connected for the first time to the cooperation congregation of national utilities in Southern Africa, under the auspices of SADC.