Monrovia – Electricity is one of the most important blessings that science has given to mankind. It has also become part of modern life; this is why its importance cannot be over emphasized.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
But in Liberia, citizens were subject to live a life void of modernity as many Liberians born in the ‘90s did not know what stable electricity is.
For more than 14 years, Liberia has lived in darkness, literally and figuratively. Monrovia, Liberia’s capital was ravaged repeatedly during the country’s 14-year civil war, and one of the first casualties was its electricity system.
In the warlords’ battle to control swaths of the country, they deliberately attacked its infrastructure, blowing up generators and transformers, machine gunning poles into Swiss cheese.
Liberia’s energy problems peaked in 2003, when the country’s long civil conflict left its energy sector — including its power distribution system and the 60-megawatt Mt. Coffee hydropower plant—completely destroyed.
The national power utility, Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), ceased operations after its headquarters and distribution infrastructure were looted. To launch efforts to rebuild, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government began working with a group of donors in 2006.
They established the Emergency Power Program, and within a year, the public network had 2 MW of diesel-powered generators in operation. However, this supported only 500 electricity connections.
On July 26, 2006 Liberia’s 159th Independence Day, electric lights once again shone on Tubman Boulevard. Or at least a few of them did, anyway.
Fulfilling in spirit, if not to the letter, a campaign promise to bring electricity back to Monrovia by Independence Day, Liberia’s new president (at the time), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, turned on an emergency power system to carry electricity to hospitals and streetlights on a handful of streets in one neighborhood here in the capital.
“Small light today, big light tomorrow,” she said, then flipped the switch to turn on Liberia’s first new streetlight.
Over the last five years, several thousands of residents of Monrovia and its environs have witnessed connection to electricity as the government expanded its supply with the introduction of the Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) generators.
Despite improving on connectivity, Liberia’s electricity tariffs remained one of the highest in the world – 54 cents per Kw/hr. However, it was relatively cheaper than cost of running a private generator.
Residents of Monrovia who did not have access to the government’s electricity paid US$45 monthly for 10 hours of electricity from privately owned generators.
This supply was only at night hours.
The cost of electricity and limited connectivity left many to wonder whether the big light tomorrow would have ever been achieved under Pres. Sirleaf’s administration.
The Rehabilitation of Mount Coffee Hydro
As part of achieving the Big Light, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf proposed the rehabilitation of Mount Coffee Hydro which was identified by the Government as the cornerstone of its objective to expand access to sustainable, affordable, and reliable electricity for its citizens.
Following the restoration of peace, rehabilitation of Mt. Coffee was proposed as an important part of the reconstruction efforts led by President Sirleaf.
About seven percent of Liberians have access to electricity, and electricity prices, until recently, have been among the highest in the world due to reliance on high-speed modular diesel generation.
This situation has impeded economic development, and posed many challenges to the survival of many small and medium size businesses.
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).
The Financing Agreement between EIB and the GoL was signed on December 28, 2012, for a concessionary loan in the amount of €50 million.
Two Cooperation Agreements were signed between Government of Liberia and GON on June 13 and July 4, 2013 in support of the Mt. Coffee Project Implementation Unit and the Hydropower Rehabilitation Project, respectively, for a total grant amount of NOK450 million.
A Financing and Project Agreement was signed between KfW and the GOL on September 30, 2013, for a grant in the amount of €25 million. The Government of Liberia committed to providing $45 million and covering any cost overruns.
Over the first two years of project implementation it became evident that the project budget was significantly under-estimated, as evidenced 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 Ebola crisis hindered the Government of Liberia’s ability to provide the originally committed amount of $45 million. Therefore, additional financing was sought in 2015.
As a result, the Millennium Challenge Compact was signed between the U.S. Government (through MCC) and the GoL on October 2, 2015 for a grant towards the Mt. Coffee Project of $146.8 million including contingency, plus additional support for environmental/social activities.
The Government of Liberia also requested additional financing of the Government of Norway and KfW. In response, an Addendum to the original Cooperation Agreement between the GON and GoL was signed on December 1, 2015, for a grant of NOK 92 million, and a Supplemental Financing Agreement was signed between KfW and GoL for €30 million on November 26, 2015.
In order to ensure full availability of financing, the GOL also requested EIB to provide up to an additional €20 million loan. The response is still pending.
The joint financing covers rehabilitation of the hydropower plant and reservoir, the construction of a 132/66 kilovolt (kV) substation at Mount Coffee, two 132/66 kV transmission lines between Mount Coffee and Monrovia, and the expansion of the two receiving substations in Monrovia.
Mount Coffee Hydro Comes Online
On December 15, 2016 Mount Coffee Hydro came online for the first time in more than 25 years, generating clean, renewable hydropower with completion of the first four generating units.
The project was dedicated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Other dignitaries attending the program were the Foreign Affairs Minister of Norway, the Commissioner for Africa of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs of the U.S. Government.
When the project is completed, Mt. Coffee Hydropower Plant will have a total installed capacity of 88 MW (four generating units of 22 MW each).
Shortly after the powering of Mount Coffee, electricity tariff of electricity dropped from 54 cents per Kw/hr to 39 cents.
Not only did this reduction enhance more connections to homes, it also boosted economic viability and reduced the rate of power theft.
More Reduction in Tariffs
On Tuesday, September 5 President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced another 10 percent reduction in electricity tariff for customers connected to the Liberia Electricity Cooperation (LEC) energy grid. The tariff has been reduced from 39 cents to 35 cents per kilowatt/hour. Since
President Sirleaf made the pronouncement when Liberia and Germany signed a KfW €15m grant at the Foreign Ministry in Monrovia.
She thanked the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU), the German Ambassador to Liberia, Hubert Jager and KfW for the great job and for bringing the agreement to reality.
President Sirleaf noted that over 9,000 connections have been made in the City of Paynesville and other parts of Monrovia with enhanced visibility.
She also indicated that funding is already available for 93,000 connections within the Bomi, Kakata and RIA Corridors; an initiative that will spread electricity beyond Monrovia.
“The small light today and big light tomorrow has become a dream realized,” President Sirleaf concluded.
The project was initiated in June, 2017 when the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU) met with KfW for bilateral talks in Frankfurt, Germany and that the signing ceremony of Tuesday, this week – will see the release of funds in October, 2017 with the first connections in the second quarter of 2018.
The PDU has worked assiduously with KfW to ensure the release of funding and procurement got underway before President Sirleaf leaves office.
The Agreement is expected to deliver 16,000 new connections that will fill the gaps between the larger projects in areas such as Clay Ashland – Bentol- Fendell; Double Bridge-Pipeline-Police Academy; and Duport Road – Rehab Communities.
Schools and medical institutions in the targeted areas will benefit from the additional connections. As the customer base grows, there will be further reduction in the tariff rate.
Finance and Development Planning Minister, Boima Kamara and Acting Board Chairperson of the Liberia Electricity Corporation, Dr. Clarence Moniba signed on behalf of the Government while Mr. Herr Andre Collins signed for KfW.
Speaking earlier, Finance and Development Planning Minister, Boima lauded Germany for standing tall in its development cooperation with Liberia.
He pointed out that the Agreement will set the platform for a stronger recovery of the economy for post-2017.
“Liberia is grateful to Germany and KfW as this intervention comes at a time of strong efforts aimed at resuscitating the Liberian economy,” Minister Kamara said.
German Ambassador, Hubert Jager recommitted his country to upholding its bilateral relations with Liberia and praised the Government of Liberia for concluding the Agreement in record time.
He indicated that it took the team just two months to negotiate and conclude the Grant Agreement compared to the nine to twelve months it normally takes for such initiative.
With the expansion of the connectivity beyond Montserrado County, investments in the economy is poised to gain major boost with the establishing or more small and medium size businesses that would be able to easily afford power and catalyze the establishment of corporate businesses and boosting industrialization.
This indirectly opens avenues for more employment opportunities, not only in the capital but in the counties soon to be connected. This indeed would help in the actualization of the saying “Monrovia is not Liberia”.