Monrovia – The House of Representatives, acting upon the recommendations of its Joint Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment; and Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning on Tuesday, September 4 ratified the additional Financing Agreement for La Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) Interconnection project.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
The CLSG Interconnection project is part of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) project and was signed between Liberia and the International Development Association (ADA) in the tone of US&45.3 million.
The agreement entitled, Additional Financing Agreement for the West African Power Pool (WAPP) Interconnection Project for La Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG).
It is aimed at supporting government’s effort in providing reduced and affordable electricity that will be efficient and reliable for Liberians and its neighboring countries including Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
President George Weah submitted to the Legislature for ratification of the documents in July this year and the House’s Plenary mandated the joint Committee to review the documents and make recommendations.
The Committee, following wide range of consultations recommended its passage on grounds that it will impact the lives of many Liberians and close the electricity gap in Liberia.
The Committee in its report observed that the Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) Project will construct 1,249 kilometers power line (the longest in WAPP) aims at facilitating efficient regional trade of electricity by connecting the four countries with the largest sub-regional West African Power Pool (WAPP).
The Joint Committee added that the CLSG project will allow the four countries to import cheaper reliable electricity, especially during the dry season and will enable Liberia to export excess energy via the St. Paul River.
The Joint Committee: “In Liberia, CLSG will provide cheaper, reliable electricity that reduce the cost of electricity supply and can reduce the tariff, thereby supporting the Government’s Pro poor and Economic Development Agenda. In addition, CLSG will contribute to the building of the national transmission backbone system; expanding the national electricity grid to previously un-served areas and allowing the increase of access to affordable electricity for Liberian people and businesses.”
Meanwhile, following the reading of the Committee’s report, Representative Samuel Kogar, (Dist. #5, Nimba County) filed in a motion to discuss the report, but his motion was ignored.
As a result, Rep. Kogar was instructed by Speaker Bhofal Chambers to restate his motion; this time calling on his colleagues to received and endorsed the communication in its totality. And with this, it received a unanimous vote.
The West African Power Pool (WAPP) is integrating the national power systems of its members into a unified regional electricity market which, over time, will provide citizens of the region with a stable and reliable electricity supply at affordable costs.
The project will help reduce the cost of electricity supply at the utility level for members countries and increase the amount of electricity traded among all the participating countries. It will also help increase the technical integration of the WAPP network.
Countries involved are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.