MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia (GoL), though its entity responsible for power supply to rural parts of the country, the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA), has announced that through a European Union 40M Euros support, it’s prioritizing Liberia’s southeastern region in its initial activities for rural electrification.
Samuel B. Nagbe, the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) at the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency, has asserted that it is envisaged his Agency’s southeastern Liberia interventions, which he said are aligned with President Joseph Boakai’s vision of increasing access to reliable and affordable renewable generated energy for citizens, will stimulate socio-economic development that will contribute to improvement in the living conditions of rural populace.
While the government’s foremost power supply company, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is heavily challenged both technically and administratively, leading to its ineffectiveness in adequately supplying electricity to thousands of customers including privately owned homes and businesses, the RREA recently disclosed that it is poised to shortly begin supplying electricity to southeastern Liberia, a region that has been blocked out for decades due to lack of power supply.
Counties in the southeastern part of the country to benefit initially, include Grand Kru, Grand Bassa, and Sinoe.
As agreed by both the EU and the GoL, the RREA, within a few weeks from now begin rolling out a series of activities including a tendering request for the supply and installation of a 0.7MW solar grid, a 250kVA diesel generator, and a stand-alone solar facility to light up Barclayville City, in Grand Kru County.
As of the end of the week of April 15th, the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency would have awarded a contract for the electrification of Greenville City, Sinoe County.
The Greenville City electrification project will be delivered in two phases, with phase one involving the supply and installation of a 1.2MW solar grid, the supply and installation of an 800kVA diesel generator, and the installation of a power distribution network to supply electricity to that part of the country within a year. Phase two is expected to be the construction of a mini-hydropower facility on the Sinoe River that will serve as the second source of power generation for the people of Greenville City and its environs.
Additionally, it’s expected that in the first week of next month, the management team at the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency will break grounds for the supply and installation of a power distribution network for Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County.
The Buchanan City power distribution network when installed, will feed from the CLSG/Transco energized substation located on that city’s outskirts.
To facilitate the Buchanan City power supply, authorities of the RREA have already hired the services of MBH Power Ltd., a total energy solutions company headquartered in Nigeria with branches in several countries including Liberia Ghana, India, Tanzania, UAE and Singapore.
Meanwhile, RREA’s OIC, Samuel B. Nagbe, is optimistic about the successful implementation of the rural electrification project, which many have termed a commendable stride in the right direction aimed at bolstering economic activities and adding a flare to life in the southeastern region – “We will deliver!” Samuel B.
