Liwonde power station is a 350 MW coal power station in Machinga, Malawi. It ranks #3 of 10 Malawi power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 0.0% of Malawi's electricity; the national grid averages 55 gCO₂/kWh (95.6% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_coa_liwonde_malaw.
Data status
Known data
Calculated from dataset
Not available
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
Data provenance
Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.
capacity: GEM GCPT; fuel: GEM GCPT
In context: how this plant compares
At 350 MW, Liwonde power station is around the median coal plant in Malawi (350 MW). Its current lifecycle status is “Shelved” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
How it compares & nearby plants
The #3 largest coal power plant of 5 in Malawi by capacity.
Malawi has 5 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 4,120 MW of capacity.
Nearby power plants
- Kamwamba power station · Coal · 1,000 MW · Ntcheu
- Nkula · Hydro · 124 MW · Southern Region
- Tedzani Falls · Hydro · 121 MW · Southern Region
- Chichiri (Blantyre) · Gas · 15.5 MW · Southern Region
- Nchalo Mill · Biomass · 10 MW · Southern Region
- Kapichira · Hydro · 130 MW · Southern Region
Location
Coordinates -15.066667, 35.233333 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Frequently asked questions
What type of power plant is Liwonde power station?
Liwonde power station is a 350 MW coal power plant in Machinga, Malawi.