Malawi Bets on Battery Storage to Climate-Proof Its Fragile Power Grid

Carol Koech, Vice President for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planetby Benson Kunchezera (lilongwe)Wednesday, August 12, 2026Inter Press Service LILONGWE, August 12 (IPS) - For years, Malawi’s electricity supply has been at the mercy of droughts, floods and cyclones that have repeatedly exposed the vulnerability of a power system heavily dependent on hydropower. Cyclones Anna and Freddy damaged energy infrastructure, triggering prolonged blackouts that disrupted businesses, hospitals, schools and households while forcing the country to rely on expensive diesel generators to keep essential services running. Now Malawi is betting on battery storage technology to make its electricity network more resilient to climate shocks while accelerating its transition to renewable energy.The country has commissioned its first standalone utility-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), a 20-megawatt, 40-megawatt-hour facility in Kanengo, Lilongwe, developed by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).Backed by a USD 20 million catalytic grant from GEAPP, the project is expected to stabi...