Bezos-backed consortium provides $20mn to build 20-MW battery energy storage system in Malawi

A global consortium that promotes developing nations' transition to cleaner energy usage has started constructing a 20-megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS) in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) will provide $20mn for the initiative expected to be commissioned in 2025, with the government matching the funding.

Backed by the Rockefeller Foundation and Bezos Earth Fund, the GEAPP said in a release on November 25 that the project, its first BEES in Africa, will enhance the reliability of clean energy in the southern African country.  Hydropower, which is getting increasingly unreliable amid climate change, accounts for 70% of Malawi's generation.  

The project will also reduce reliance on costly diesel generators, cutting carbon emissions by about 10,000 tonnes annually, and unlocking the full uptake of at least 100 MW of variable renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, into the grid.

“I am grateful to the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet for putting money where its mouth is, for it has taken no small measure of courage for GEAPP to put $20mn on the line towards the construction of a 20MW battery energy storage system that is the very first of its kind in the whole of Africa, nor has it taken a small measure of resolve on our part as Government to commit to match that funding in the spirit of true partnership,” commented Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera.

BESS offers an opportunity for Malawi to integrate least-cost renewable electricity such as solar and wind.  By breaking ground for the BESS project, said GEAPP, Malawi is an "important proof point" for the BESS consortium that the multi-stakeholder alliance launched in 2023 to secure five gigawatts of BESS commitments in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2024.

GEAPP vice president for Africa, Joseph Nganga said:

"By enhancing the stability and resilience of Malawi’s grid, it demonstrates the power of collaboration in advancing energy access, reducing emissions, and supporting livelihoods.