By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
President Julius Maada Bio has signed a massive $ 311million (three hundred and eleven million) dollar electricity project for the procurement of 132 MW of solar PV across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Chad for regional integration. This will see the conversion of sunlight into electricity.
The signing ceremony took place at the Radisson Blu main conference hall in Freetown yesterday evening.
Sierra Leone is set to benefit from a 75 million dollars Generation Capacity of 52MWp solar PV plus 28 MWh BESS at Newton and Lungi. The project includes an additional supply and installation of voltage regulation equipment at 161/11KV Substation of Freetown and supply and installation of 33 KV and 11 KV distribution lines to optimize the integration of the Newton Solar Park in the country.
Liberia was allocated 96 million dollars for a Generation Capacity of 20 MWp solar PV plus 41 MW Hydro, Chad and Togo 60 million dollars each for Generation Capacity of 35 MWp Solar PV and 25 MWp Solar PV respectively.
The Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE) is expected to scale up grid-connected renewable power generation and strengthen regional integration in the participating countries.
Formal launch of the project took place the day before, on the 30th January, 2023 at the Radisson Blu main conference hall.
Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo who are the project’s beneficiaries have come together to forge a new path that offers a long-term, green and yet more affordable approach to energy crisis. The RESPITE Project is expected to reduce GHG emissions by close to 10MtCO2eq, save 0.2 percent of GDP on average in subsidies per annum and significantly reduce the cost of incremental power generation for each of the countries.
It is however noted that, countries in West Africa have historically relied on oil-based emergency power plants to meet growing demand. Over 570 (five hundred and seventy) million people are said to be living without energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa, with energy access at 10% or lower in many countries, especially rural areas.
In his opening remarks on day one of the event’s launching, the Sierra Leone Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay noted that the country was beaming with pride and satisfaction in achieving collaboration among countries, the World Bank and the West African Power Pool (WAPP). He said, in a short time, they have been able to come together to initiate an impactful energy project that will scale up renewable power generation and improve capacity for regional energy trade in the future.
He said, the RESPITE project will help accelerate on an emergency basis the deployment of more renewable energy in the region through contracting the private sector and secured public procurement.
“The complexity of procurement, transparency of activities and sensitivity of sovereignty are among the issues addressed in the Project’s institutional arrangement,” he said.
Minister Kanja reiterated that, Energy is the lifeblood of countries’ economies, and that this first step in transitioning to large-scale renewables is a significant and historic milestone. He described the RESPITE project as second only to the Bumbuna Hydro Project in Sierra Leone as a singular endeavor in renewable energy.
He concluded by expressing appreciation to the World Bank for choosing Sierra Leone as host for the signing of the RESPITE project.
According to Chad’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, S.E.M. Djerassem Le Bemadjiel, the energy sector is an important sector for the growth of any country. He said Africa is fighting for food sovereignty and energy poverty, noting that energy is required for the sustenance of everyone in a country.
He pointed out that many lives have been lost due to the lack of energy in the rural areas and that only renewable energy can alleviate energy poverty in Africa, noting that, the Hercules heels to any economy can be affordable energy.
He added that, $ 350 million (three hundred and fifty million) dollars has been disbursed to implement the RESPITE project and expressed gratitude to the World Bank for supporting his country.
He went on to say that, the RESPITE project initiative will boost the energy sector of the various countries and appealed to the Bank for the acceleration of the project.
Director of Regional Integration at the World Bank, Boutheina Guermazi said the project is an emergency intervention through strong political commitment by all countries.
She said about 565 million people in Sub-saharan Africa are living without having access to electricity, 220 million of them in West Africa where she said electricity cost is higher. She said access to a solid, reliable, sustainable and clean energy remains an overriding priority for the region.
Guermazi pointed out that the World Bank has put the energy project as a key element of its regional integration agenda for Africa and has committed over $ 1.2 million (one million, two hundred thousand) dollars to help improve the energy sector in Africa. She also said that they have also committed over 400 million (four hundred million) dollars to four different developing countries to help in financing the energy sector in Africa.
The RESPITE project is set to address the immediate power and fiscal crisis by offering more sustainable and affordable solution to cleaner energy, reliable quality supply and affordable tariffs in the participating countires.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (01/02/23)
