Cabinet Committee on Energy has challenged Electricity Generation Company of Malawi (Egenco) to step up its ongoing and budding energy projects to stabilize the country’s energy supply.

The committee comprises Minister of Finance, Economic planning and Development Joseph Mwanamveka, Minister of Transport and Public Works Ralph Jooma, Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaira and Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Salim Bugus.

In an interview last week after a tour of Kapichira Hydropower Station in Chikwawa, Jooma said Egenco has suffered due to siltation of its ponds; hence, the need to act urgently.

He said: “We are concerned with siltation in most of our ponds, which are used for power generation.”

While expressing satisfaction with the pace Egenco has taken to deal with energy challenges, Kutsaila encouraged the parastatal to put in more effort.

“Soon they will embark on the dredging exercise to reclaim original capacity of the dams,” he said.

Egenco chief executive officer William Liabunya said dredging, which starts in two weeks and may take three years, will improve the capacity of the power station, ultimately improving power generation.

“It is our hope that when we start these operations, we can reclaim the design capacity of this dam such that at end, we can operate our machine at full capacity even without any flow from upstream of the river,” he said.

The dredging machine was given to Egenco under the power sector reforms project of the $350.1 million about (K242 billion) United States of America government–funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) energy compact.