Monrovia – December 15, 2016 marked the historic turning on of the Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant which was destroyed during the Liberian civil war.
“What good is it to put on an incomplete hydro that is on one minute and off another, we should have waited” – Anthony Beyan
The commissioning ceremony was graced by dignitaries, particularly from the United States, European Union, the Kingdom of Netherlands, Germany, among others.
The commissioning was greeted with celebrations from Liberians who were optimistic that the hydro will put to end their energy crisis.
But the reality is that those are hooked up to the power grid continue to experience the same constant power outages.
With the constant outages, the dream of having stable 24 hours electricity for the first time in 26 years seems farfetched.
Many LEC subscribers across Monrovia over the weekend complained about the constant power outages, adding that the outages experienced was similar or perhaps worse than the previous power supplied by the corporation for over 11 years.
Critics say the turning on of the first turbine at the hydro was more political than technical, stressing that the President didn’t want to fall short of her second promise – electrifying Liberia.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, during her inauguration in 2005 promised to light up Monrovia in six months which didn’t happen in eleven years.
She again promised Liberians that by December 2016 the hydro will be on, so according to critics, turning an incomplete hydro on is considered a promise come true.
The LEC has boasted of working out all of the modalities to achieve the goal of giving Liberians stable electricity, but with information concerning the power outages, some customers are now preferring, the HFO-plant over the much publicized hydro.
A resident of Sinkor, Peter Miller said with the hydro just been turned on the constant outage over the weekend is a surprise.
“The other day, the President turned on the hydro so what we are experiencing is surprising,” Miller said. He added that the celebration has not ended and LEC is unable to have stable electricity for a week.
Miller said – “It does not feel like we are getting power from a hydro”.
A Paynesville resident, Anthony Beyan, termed the hydro as a “scam”, adding that the hydro is not operational.
Beyan said there was no need for any rush to turn on an incomplete hydro, adding that Liberia has been out of power supply for years so full completion is what they want.
“What good is it to put on an incomplete hydro that is on one minute and off another, we should have waited,” argues Beyan.
“This whole hydro is to please the President than to provide current to the Liberian people.”
Beyan said with the hydro on and LEC unable to maintain stable power for her old customers, adding new connections might not just be possible anytime soon.
LEC Public Relations Specialist James Kpargoi said the frequent power outages were due to the synchronization of the Mount Coffee Hydro and Heavy Fuel Oil plant power supply.
“The synchronization process is going on, the community are hooked up to the hydro, the lines are being synchronize right now our aimed is to ensure that unit on Bushrod Island and the hydro at Mount Coffee are on one line,” said Kpargoi.
“We are doing this synchronization process so when the water level drops, we can have a stable power.”
“This test was announceD and the test is going on successfully, when the level drop at Mount Coffee the plant at Bushrod Island will be able to supply electricity” , Kpargoi said.
Many blame LEC for the lack of information to the public, but the head of public relations at LEC refuted such claims adding that radio announcement has been running for the past three weeks.
“We put announcement out even on Facebook, we bought spots at radio stations for the announcement, it has been out for three weeks,” Kpargoi said.
Liberty Party Youth Congress Secretary General, Emmanuel Barnes, said what happened on December 15 is not considered a turned-on of a hydro.
“I do not consider it as turning the hydro on, the hydro is not yet completed, remember the hydro has four turbines only one was turn on, so one can clearly say it was one of those quick impact projects,” Barnes said.
Barnes like the other subscribers complained about the constant power outages and said it signaled that the hydro is not fully functional.
“Since the hydro was turned on it has not been fully operational, after electricity comes on an hour or two it goes off, it tells you that they hastily worked that’s why we do not have regular flow of power,” Barnes said, adding that there’s nothing to celebrate because the commissioning of the turbine was done to meet donors’ expectation.
Said Barnes: “This government which promised to electrify Monrovia in six months and has spent eleven years, to be turning on one turbine that will provide 22megawatts for eighteen communities, this is something very dismal, after eleven years turning on one turbine is disheartening, this turning on was in a rush to meet donors’ deadline.”
But Kpargoi dispel rumor that the dedication is a scam saying “it is a monumental development for Liberia.”
“We always have naysayers who are pessimistic about the future of this country. The turning on of Mount Coffee is a monumental development after 26 years, we damage the hydro and took down the turbines and sold it, the government with its partners have pump in millions of dollars to ensure that we boost electricity, the turning of the hydro is no scam,” Kpargoi said.
“We had former American Ambassadors you think all those international partners will leave their busy schedule to come here for scam, there’s no scam, Mount Coffee is back and viable for economic development, this is no joke if people are saying it is scam they are political naysayers and we have no space for that,” Kpargoi added.
Following the restoration of peace, rehabilitation of Mt. Coffee was proposed as an important part of the reconstruction efforts led by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
In 2011 the Government of Liberia requested financing for the project from the Government of Norway (GoN), KFW Development Bank of Germany, and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Over the first two years of the project implementation, it became clear that the project budget was significantly under-estimated evident by the market response to tenders; cost increases also occurred due to the Ebola crisis of 2014 – 2015, and design optimization decisions agreed by the stakeholders.
The scale of Liberia’s development challenges, combined with the fact that all of LEC generation capacity is currently sourced from costly thermal power, underlines the urgency in getting the Mt. Coffee Hydropower Plant to an operational stage.
Delays will entail a [continued] considerable cost for the Liberian society, in the form of high fuel costs for thermal electricity production.
The Mt. Coffee Hydropower Rehabilitation Project is expected to provide sustainable and cost-efficient supply of electrical energy, and also replace operations of emergency diesel engines and private aggregates that are presently used throughout the country.
It is also expected to facilitate the continuation of the re-electrification of Monrovia, as well as the start of meaningful rural electrification in the country.