Pamodzi power station

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Pamodzi power station is a cancelled power station in Chipoka, Salima, Central, Malawi. It is also known as Chipoka Coal Plant.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Pamodzi power station Chipoka, Salima, Central, Malawi -13.966667, 34.5 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

Loading map...


Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology
Unit 1 cancelled coal: unknown 120 subcritical

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Intra Energy Corp Ltd [100%] Intra Energy Corp Ltd [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): Tancoal mine, Tanzania

Background

In March 2013, Intra Energy Corporation (IEC) announced it would construct and operate a 120 MW coal fired power station in Malawi through a wholly owned subsidiary. The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Malawi on March 15, 2013 for the plant to be built at Chipoka, Salima.[1]

In 2013, IEC said the project was planned for operation in 2017 and permitting was near complete. The plant was to be fueled by coal the company owns in the region; IEC owns the Nkhachira Coal Mine near Karonga in northern Malawi.[2]

In May 2014, IEC signed an MoU with Endeavor Energy Power to assess the potential of the project, which could be up to 240 MW.[3]

In April 2016, construction of a 120 MW coal plant was permitted.[4] Execution of the PPA term sheet for the project was completed with the government of Malawi in April 2016. Under the agreement, the plant was to source its coal from its Tancoal mine in Tanzania, and not from Intra Energy’s Malcoal mine in Malawi, because the company was debating the sale of the mine and its other Malawi subsidiaries due to low sales.[5]

In its annual report for the period ending June 30, 2016, Chairman Graeme Robinson wrote that the Pamodzi project was on hold "until a suitable power station developer is found."[6]

In March 2017, Intra Energy reported: "In a recent review of the Unsolicited Independent Power Producers (UIPPs) done by Mott MacDonald, Project Pamodzi was identified as one of the only two coal-fired power station projects on the list of UIPPs to be considered for inclusion in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) study."[7]

A September 2018 Intra Energy Quarterly Report said the following of the project: "IEC is currently discussing the potential for this project to proceed with a new partner."[8]

The project appeared in Intra Energy's June 2019 annual report, but not in its June 2020, June 2021, or June 2022 annual reports, so the project appeared to be shelved.[9] The company's March 2022 Quarterly Activities Report discussed selling off a substantial portion of their existing coal assets,[10] and their December 2022 Quarterly Activities Report described finalizing the sale of their coal assets in Tanzania.[11]

In their March 2023 Quarterly Activities Report, IEC confirmed their exit from fossil fuels with the final sale of their coal assets to a purchaser in Tanzania,[12] so revival of this project seemed unlikely.

As of September 2023, the project was presumed cancelled.

Articles and Resources

References

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.