Malawi
Malawi - 5.5 Malawi Imported Electricity Details
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Number of Customers (2022): 571,345

TRANSMISSION

ESCOM has a transmission network comprising of 1,080 km of wooden pole lines and 1603 km of steel tower lines.

•  These lines transmit bulk power at 66,000 volts, 132,000 volts and 400,000 volts. They feed power transformers which are in grid substations across the country.

•  Power transformers step-up generation voltage of 11,000 volts to 66,000 volts, 132,000 volts and 400,000 volts for transmission to major load centres where these voltages are then stepped down to 33,000 and 11,000 volts for distribution to customers.

•  Challenges include problems of termite attacks on wooden structures, vandalism on both wood and steel tower structures and periodic floods which erode tower foundations thereby collapsing the towers and lightning strikes damaging wood poles.

Supply Electricity

•  It is important to note that the supply is not always stable, and the risk of fluctuations is very high, thus use of an electricity stabilizer is highly recommended
• There are frequent power cuts because of ‘power shedding’ due to demand exceeding generation so provision for generators is recommended

Power Stability

Power grid / network coverage

The Escom transmission network supplies electricity to all districts and there is good coverage over the whole country

Is supply regular and constant throughout the country?

No

On average, how often does power supply go out?

Outages occur daily, in urban and rural areas

On average, how long does the outage last?

From minutes to many hours

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