Monrovia – In a nation where access to electricity is limited, reaching only 34% in urban areas and being almost absent in rural areas, the dry season which runs between December and April, is the most brutal time for consumers. During the season, characterized by the hot, sandy, Harmattan wind, which blows in from the Sahara Desert, electricity is at its worst.
Today, only 29.85% of Liberians have access, making Liberia one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world. In the capital city of Monrovia, only 6.7% of the population has access.
The burden for the provision of electricity falls on the state-owned Liberia Electricity Corporation, which operates a small grid almost exclusively in the Greater Monrovia District. The vast majority of electric energy services are provided by small privately-owned generators. At $0.54 per kWh, the electricity tariff in among the highest in the world.
Understanding LEC’s Energy Challenge and Its Response One year ago, on Feb. 10, 2023, the total energy supplied by LEC was 966.8MWh, while on Feb. 10, 2024, the total energy supplied was 1095.29 MWh.
This represents an increase of 13.3% in energy supplied. During the same period, energy supplied from CLSG and Mt. Coffee on Feb. 10, 2023, was respectively 691.2 MWh and 275.6 MWh, while on Feb. 10, 2024, the energy supplied from these two sources was respectively 577.8 MWh and 117.5 MWh, representing a total decrease of 28%.
Today, the LEC supplied 13.3% more energy to the grid this year compared to the same time last year, while CLSG and Mt. Coffee’s total supply decreased by 28%. How did LEC achieve more energy supply with less CLSG and Mt. Coffee generation? Without the Government of Liberia support, LEC invested approximately $2 million to repair and maintain all its thermal generators at Bushrod.
LEC also invested over $4.5 million in fuel to make the thermal plants available for operation in time for the 2024 Dry Season. LEC’s Bushrod plants have been online since the commencement of the dry season.
This means that LEC did prepare for the dry season to the best of its ability, and this has made the situation far better than it would otherwise have been. The public should also note that LEC has attracted over 80,000 new customers, and connections continue. This has added stress to our energy supply by increasing our load and thus energy demand. LEC has already commenced planning to address future energy deficits.
