Malawi’s State-owned Electricity Generation Company (Egenco) is inviting bids for the provision of engineering consultancy services and an environmental audit of the Wovwe hydropower station, in the country’s northern district of Karonga.
“Qualification requirements include a minimum of three years’ experience in supplying similar services,” Egenco says.
Bid documents, which must be completed in English, are obtainable from Egenco’s head office, in Malawi’s commercial capital of Blantyre, upon payment of a nonrefundable fee of MK50 000 (about $70) or its equivalent in a freely convertible currency.
The deadline for the submission of bids is July 28.
The Wovwe hydropower station, which the Malawi government built with funding from the German government, is located on the Wovwe river and comprises three turbines of 1.52 MW each.
It is designed to either connect to the national grid or operate off grid, supplying power to the districts of Karonga and Chitipa.
Besides Wovwe, all of Malawi’s hydropower stations – including Nkula, Kapichira and Tedzani – are located on the Shire river.
The Malawi government unbundled the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) earlier this year, resulting in the creation of Egenco, which has taken over the electricity generation function, while Escom retained responsibility for transmission and distribution.
The unbundling process, which was executed with financial backing from US federal agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), was aimed at improving efficiency in Malawi’s electricity sector.
The MCC, through its local office, Millenium Challenge Account-Malawi, provided $350-million for technical support and reform in Malawi’s power sector, where some of the funds are being used to rehabilitate the country’s ageing power stations and upgrade the Escom network.