ESCOM and EGENCO say that the two companies have put in place measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the crucial election period.
The two companies held a joint media briefing in Blantyre on Monday to update the public on power supply situation during the election period.
ESCOM Chief Executive Officer Kamkwamba Kumwenda said they have entered into discussions with some companies to reduce their electricity usage this week, especially on Tuesday which is a public holiday.
Kumwenda said during this period they have also suspended maintenance works on some of their machines to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the election period.
“The elections are of national importance. Therefore, we have asked some companies to scale down production during the election period only especially tomorrow,” he said.
Similarly, EGENCO Chief Executive Officer Maxon Chitawo has put in place measures so that electricity to power network towers is available to enable uninterrupted transmission of results and communication during elections.
In August this year, ESCOM told the media that the available power supply capacity is about 350MW, while peak demand reaches 413MW, but at the same time 101MW from solar and 14MW from thermal power plants are not available all day.
This has created a projected shortage of up to 189.64MW between July 2024 and September 2025, thus load-shedding during peak hours is expected to continue, particularly during the morning and evening peak periods.
ESCOM said that from January to July 2025, and continuing into the second week of August, the power supply situation has remained below the desired level, with demand exceeding generation capacity.
The Corporation said the power supply shortfall has led to poor service delivery for customers, prompting the implementation of load-shedding during peak hours as a last resort to keep the system balanced.