Kapichira Hydroelectric Power Station | |
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Country | Malawi |
Location | Kapachira Falls, Chikwawa District, Southern Region |
Coordinates | 15°53′45″S 34°45′14″E / 15.89583°S 34.75389°E |
Purpose | Power |
Status | Operational |
Opening date | 2000 |
Construction cost | US$153 million (Phase 1) |
Owner(s) | Government of Malawi |
Operator(s) | Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi |
Dam and spillways | |
Impounds | Shire River |
Turbines | 4 x 32 MW |
Installed capacity | 128 megawatts (172,000 hp) |
The Kapichira Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant at the Kapachira Falls on the Shire River in Malawi. It has an installed capacity of 128 megawatts (172,000 hp), enough to power over 86,000 homes, with four 32 megawatts (43,000 hp) generating sets. The power station was developed in stages, with the first phase involving the installation of the first two 32 megawatts-generating turbines. Phase I of the power station was officially opened in September 2000.[1]
In January 2014, in a ceremony attended by the president of Malawi at that time, Joyce Banda, the second phase of the Kapichira hydropower project was switched on, doubling the hitherto 64 megawatts to the maximum capacity of 128 megawatts.[2]