📋 Tender Overview
Location: Southern Malawi
Scope: The dam will be built on the Shire River in Blantyre District, downstream of the Nkhula A HPP & Nkhula B hydroelectric dam (100 MW), the Tedzani hydroelectric dam (110.7 MW) and upstream of the Kapichira hydroelectric dam (128 MW). The water reservoir will have a large reservoir. Electricity Generation Company Malawi (Egenco), the parastatal company that transports and distributes electricity, is considering taking part of the water from the reservoir to boost the capacity of the Kapichira hydroelectric plant. An irrigation plan will also be developed from this future reservoir. The project is also being supported by SN Power, a company based in Oslo, Norway, and Power Africa, a company that invests in numerous energy projects in Africa, as well as the International Finance Corporation (IFC). IFC InfraVentures’ first participation in a management decision for the Mpatamanga hydroelectric project will be in the choice of the company to carry out the project.
Mpatamanga hydroelectric power project make-up :
The Mpatamanga hydroelectric power project will comprise two cascade dams for a total power output of 350MW. The main dam will be a 45m-high concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) with an adjacent gated spillway at the right abutment. It will create a 22km-long reservoir occupying a 19km2 surface area with a water storage capacity of up to 216 million cubic metres (mcm). It will involve the construction of two diversion tunnels and a high-pressure penstock to transfer the Shire River water to the ground powerhouse located approximately 800m downstream of the main dam. The powerhouse will be equipped with six Francis turbines for a total power capacity of 309MW. The project will also have a regulating dam located 6km downstream of the main dam, along with another powerhouse of 41MW installed capacity. The addition of a regulating dam will allow storing the peak inflows from the main reservoir. A 132kV double circuit power transmission line will be constructed to connect the main dam with the regulating dam. The Mpatamanga project is designed to be operated as a peaking plant consisting of the main dam for high power demand and a regulating dam for generating additional baseload capacity.
Contractors involved
UK-based global engineering, management, and development consultancy firm Mott MacDonald, Malawi-based C12 Consultants, and France-based biodiversity and ecosystem consultancy Biotope were engaged to carry out the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the project. C12 is also responsible to carry out the biodiversity action plan (BAP) and the relocation action plan (RAP).
Multiconsult Group was engaged in assessing different peaking operations along with the cumulative impacts of other existing and planned projects in 2018.
Fichtner Germany prepared the feasibility report for the hydroelectric power project in 2018.
K and M Advisors was engaged by IFC InfraVentures to facilit
