President Lazarus Chakwera said solar electricity is the only way to prevent environmental degradation and help to generate more electricity in the nation.
Chakwera made the remarks on 6 May 2022 at Mzuzi ground Traditional Authority (T/A) Kachindamoto in Dedza district when he inaugurated JCM power plant at Golomoti.
Chakwera said the 20 megawatts generated electricity from the solar plant is going to help the country to improve the nation’s economy.
“This kind of industries are going to help us a lot as a nation to bring developmental activities and help to bring the things we do not have so that we will be able to produce and export the items to other countries in order to gain profits through this modern way of electricity production,” Chakwera said.
Chakwera applauded World Bank for pumping in US$ 60million into the project saying the country will come back to normal after the damage of Kapichira dam.
According to Christian Wray, Co-founder of JCM Power, the facility is unique with storage power of 5 megawatts from solar batteries that can be used even in cold weather, which he said is the first of its kind in Africa.
Wray also hailed the working relationship with Malawi Government which has enabled electricity companies to export the generated power into the national grid.
“We have so far managed to do business with EGENCO and we hope to increase solar projects across Malawi,” said Wray.
He added that the project has created over 500 jobs during construction and dozens of permanent positions during operations.
