Liberia Eyes Ghana, Guinea in Mitigation Strategy to Ease Dry Season Electricity Issues
Monrovia – As Liberia anticipates the daybreak of the Dry season, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is already Eyeing its Dry Season Mitigation Strategy, FrontPage Africa has gathered.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The technique consists of the plan to hitch different CLSG members together with Guinea to herald present from Ghana which boasts a sustainable methodology.
The transfer is Liberia’s newest effort to get extra present to shut the ability provide hole that’s normally created as the results of the Dry season which causes the water stage to drop considerably.
“We have negotiated 50MW from Ghana but we have to work out technical arrangements with the Ivorians to transit power through them. We are also negotiating with Guinea to get up to 20MW from now until December to manage increasing demand. But the biggest challenge is the Government of Liberia not paying its bills, now around $US17 million,” a authorities supply chatting with FrontPageAfrica Monday on strict confidentiality stated.
The announcement was confirmed by TRANSCO CLSG, the regional transmission firm owned equally by the nationwide utilities of the 4 nations: Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra and Guinea. In a press release, TRANSCO CLSG stated the brand new energy circulation from Ghana to Liberia is about to mitigate Dry Season energy provide.
According to the TRANSCO CLSG, because it commenced industrial operations in 2021, the CLSG interconnection line has confronted under-utilization, working at solely 25% of its 220MW capability. In response, the administration of TRANSCO CLSG is actively working to deal with these challenges and improve the corporate’s operational viability.
How it began
In July 2024, TRANSCO CLSG performed an exploratory mission to Ghana to discover various energy provide choices for the CLSG line. Consultations with the Energy Company of Ghana (ECG), which manages a pool of impartial energy producers, revealed that 100MW of capability is out there to provide the CLSG regional energy community. A devoted thermal plant has been recognized to assist this operation.
The assertion additional famous that on the July 2024 Board Meeting, TRANSCO CLSG knowledgeable its nationwide utility companions of the mission’s findings and the chance to import energy from Ghana. The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) expressed agency curiosity on this alternative and promptly dispatched a mission to Ghana to safe extra power provides for the upcoming dry season in Liberia.
To operationalize this course of, LEC requested that TRANSCO CLSG facilitate a coordination assembly with key stakeholders, together with LEC, VRA, GRIDCo, CI-ENERGIES, and WAPP-ICC. In response, TRANSCO CLSG organized a high-level assembly in Abidjan on Thursday, October 3, 2024. Chaired by TRANSCO CLSG’s General Manager, Mohammed M. Sherif, the assembly aimed to ascertain the technical and industrial frameworks for wheeling 50MW of energy from Ghana to Liberia.
During the assembly, all events reaffirmed their dedication to making sure a gentle energy provide from Ghana to Liberia, serving to LEC mitigate its dry season power shortages.
In his remarks, Mr. Sherif emphasised the importance of the assembly as a essential step in direction of facilitating power exports from Ghana to LEC. He referred to as for collective dedication from all stakeholders to make sure the supply of dependable and inexpensive electrical energy throughout the CLSG community and past. Mr. Sherif additionally acknowledged the important thing function of the World Bank, whose monetary and technical assist has been instrumental in advancing the CLSG venture.
“The World Bank’s contributions, as one of the main financiers of the CLSG project, have laid the foundation for a reliable and secure energy trade,” Mr. Sherif said. He expressed confidence within the readiness of TRANSCO CLSG, GRIDCo, and CI ENERGIES to coordinate energy transmission throughout borders, additional optimizing the CLSG line for higher effectivity. “This collaboration highlights the importance of regional partnerships in addressing the growing energy needs of our countries.”
Mr. Monie R. Captan, CEO of LEC, acknowledged the present challenges and emphasised the essential function of TRANSCO CLSG and CI Energies in guaranteeing seamless energy provide to Liberia. “Success depends on the collaboration of all key stakeholders,” Mr. Captan remarked. He additionally highlighted LEC’s ongoing efforts to scale back industrial losses, enhance distribution reliability, and increase technology capability, together with enhancing the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant and launching new initiatives like photo voltaic power and the SP2 energy plant.
We have negotiated 50MW from Ghana however we now have to work out technical preparations with the Ivorians to transit energy by way of them. We are additionally negotiating with Guinea to rise up to 20MW from now till December to handle growing demand. But the largest problem is Government of Liberia not paying its payments, Now round $US17 million.
A authorities supply chatting with FrontPageAfrica Monday on strict confidentiality
Mr. Captan famous that using the CLSG transmission community is crucial for resolving LEC’s present challenges. “The operation of the CLSG line is crucial, as it ensures that the network can sustain itself and relieves the burden on national budgets,” he harassed, urging all events to kind a synergy to ship dependable and inexpensive electrical energy throughout Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
The Debt Burden: A Serious Challenge
While the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) continues to work proactively to spice up energy provide, its rising debt burden threatens to undermine these efforts.
In August this 12 months, the Ivorian authorities, a member of the CLSG power-sharing community, issued a stern warning to chop off Liberia’s energy provide if the nation did not settle its substantial debt. This warning, relayed by way of the Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), highlighted that Liberia’s excellent debt had reached US$19,691,647 by the tip of June 2024. Facing monetary pressure on account of rising power technology prices, the Ivorian electrical energy sector declared this debt unsustainable.
In a letter dated August 26, 2024, CIE expressed its frustration over LEC’s repeated failure to make well timed funds, cautioning that it will don’t have any choice however to droop electrical energy provide to Liberia if the money owed weren’t cleared.
In response, LEC urgently appealed to the Ministry of Finance for funds to stop the Ivorian authorities from finishing up its menace. A letter from LEC CEO Monie Captan, dated September 3, 2024, notified the Ministry of Finance concerning the gravity of the state of affairs. Captan defined that the federal government’s failure to disburse the mandatory funds left LEC unable to satisfy its monetary obligations, additional requesting an instantaneous launch of US$2,054,368.80 to cowl funds from January to September 2024. He additionally requested for extra funds to partially settle the federal government’s US$16 million debt to LEC.
FrontPage Africa is but to substantiate whether or not any funds have been made by the federal government.
Ghana: A Timely Alternative Source?
Liberia, alongside Sierra Leone and Guinea, stays one of many nations with the bottom electrical energy entry charges globally, a problem pushed by excessive gas prices, inadequate technology capability, and unreliable techniques. The CLSG venture, which allows Liberia to import electrical energy from Ivory Coast, has been a vital lifeline on account of Ivory Coast’s greater electrification fee and lower-cost electrical energy manufacturing.
The Boakai-Koung administration, upon assuming workplace, endorsed LEC’s plan to reinforce Liberia’s power provide. The mixture of energy from the Mount Coffee Hydro Plant and the CLSG line has considerably improved electrical energy availability, not solely in rural areas but in addition in city areas.
In March 2024, President Boakai visited Ivory Coast, the place he held talks with President Alassane Ouattara. A serious end result of their discussions was Ivory Coast’s dedication to increasing its electrical energy grid to Liberia, anticipated to additional bolster the nation’s energy provide.
However, if Liberia fails to settle its money owed and the CLSG energy line is disconnected, it will be a serious blow to the nation’s already struggling electrical energy sector, which continues to grapple with rampant energy theft.
Currently, Liberia’s electrical energy provide stays comparatively secure because of the ongoing wet season. But with the dry season approaching, considerations are rising that shedding the CLSG provide may severely cripple the nation’s power sector, particularly when water ranges on the Mount Coffee Hydro Plant drop, inflicting widespread shortages.
If a brand new association with Ghana materializes, it may present another power supply to assist stabilize Liberia’s electrical energy provide. However, observers stay cautious, urging the federal government to urgently deal with the mounting debt to keep away from additional setbacks.
