2 NEW POWER PLANTS AT MAGUGA DAM

MBABANE – Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) is set to build two hydro-power stations at Maguga Dam.

This was announced by the company’s Managing Director, Ernest Mkhonta. He said the two projects would contribute 32MW into EEC’s grid, with construction happening in two phases, the upstream phase and the downstream phase. “We have done the feasibility study and it has proved that we can produce 10MW upstream and a further 22MW downstream. We expect that construction of the upstream project, depending on the availability of finances, will be underway by March next year. The downstream project is earmarked for early 2026,” he said.

Mkhonta said the two projects fed well into the company’s strategy to increase its power generation capacity. He explained that since the dam was created for irrigation purposes, they would have to build a reservoir at a strategic location, preferably where the dam spilt off downstream, for the second phase. “We expect the second phase to take much longer because of the preparatory work that has to be done downstream. We are currently negotiating with financiers for both projects. We are confident of success,” he said.

EEC currently produces 70MW from water sources. The Maguga projects will take the country’s hydro-power production to 102MW, which would bring the country closer to 240MW, which is the country’s total consumption of electricity per year. EEC’s Raphael Masilela said the Maguga projects would add to three other hydro-power stations; Maguduza, Dwaleni and Ezulwini.

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