The seventh, and the final, AIR project meeting was held from 28^th October to 1^st November 2019 at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) in Blantyre and in Lilongwe, Malawi.

In the opening remarks, the Dean of Postgraduate and Research at UNIMA Dr Peter Mhagama welcomed the attendees. Subsequently, the researchers from UNIMA presented different renewable energy projects undertaken in Malawi.

To get a practical insight into the energy situation in Malawi, the project team undertook excursions to different plants in Malawi. The first excursion was to the ‘Mulanje Bondo Energy Generating Power Plant‘ in Mulanje District, which was built to reach out to 400 households, support schools and small businesses. But the intended target has been surpassed, and the plant is serving around 1200 households, six schools, four maize mills and one clinic.

The project team also visited the ‘Kapichira Hydro Power Station‘, which generates electricity for most of the country using the water from the Malawian biggest river – the Shire River. Furthermore, ‘Mandrade Energy Kiosk‘ in Chikwawa and ‘Sitolo Village Solar Mini-Grid‘ in Mchinji district has been visited as well.

On the final day of the meeting, the project team visited the Malawian Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining offices where Mr Cornwell Chisale presented the Status of the Energy Sector in Malawi. Following the excursions and the information gathered from the plant operators during the project week, the AIR project team was able to further exchange ideas with the representatives from Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining over dinner.

For more information, please contact info@air-project.org.