MALAWI ENERGY STATISTICS OVERVIEW

Malawi relies on biomass energy for cooking and heating, with wood fuel and charcoal accounting for approximately 86% of the country’s total energy consumption compared to 10% for oil products, 3% for electricity and 1% for coal.

Petroleum accounts for a relatively small proportion of Malawi’s total energy consumption (10%), with most of it being used in the transportation sector. Malawi has no significant reserves of crude oil or natural gas, and thus relies on imports to meet its energy needs. In all imported oil products, Petrol contribute 45% of the imported oil products, which is the highest compared to aviation fuels which is the lowest

Electricity accounts for 3% of the country’s total energy consumption. Electricity generation in Malawi is primarily from hydropower, with the country having a total installed capacity of approximately 398.39 megawatts (MW) as of 2023. Out of this, 390.15 MW is produced by EGENCO, while 8.2 MW is produced by Mulanje Hydro. However, due to the country’s reliance on hydropower, electricity supply is often affected by droughts and water shortages. The government of Malawi has recognized this challenge and has made efforts to diversify the country’s electricity mix by promoting the use of renewable energy sources. Currently, JCM solar is feeding 80MW into the grid and Serengeti is feeding in 21MW. EGENCO also supplies 1.3 MW from solar, to Chizumulu and Likoma Islands. There are also several proposed solar and wind projects by various Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the pipeline. Additionally, electricity is also generated using thermal power plants which are operated by EGENCO. These power plants have a total installed capacity of 53.7MW. 27MW is imported through Mozambique-Malawi cross boarder and Zambia-Malawi cross boarder (7MW and 20MW respectively).

Households consume more energy than other sectors (81%). Industry and transport sectors consume about 8% and 9% respectively while other sectors (commercial and agriculture etc) account for about 2% of the total energy use by the consumers.