Monrovia – TRANSCO CLSG a regional electricity transmission company has promised to complete Liberia’s transmission line by 2019.
Report by J.H. Webster Clayeh – [email protected]
The company is implementing the West African Power Pool (WAPP) created to provide electrical energy at competitive and affordable prices in the West Africa region to ensure e social and economic development.
Speaking at the launching of the construction phase kick-off held at the company’s Monrovia office in Congo Town, Monrovia on Monday, the General Manager Mohammed Sherif the company has begun physical implementation of the process following the signing of deal with contractors.
Sherif said the meeting with contractors is to allow them gather their resources on the ground in order meet up with the completion timeframe. He added that most of their works have been taking place through “sequential commission”.
“We commission as we built, that’s the entire idea and we are committed to that.”
“Everything will be completed by 2019; it does not mean that only 2019 people will get electricity,” TRANSCO CLSG General Manager said.
Sherif said the expectation of the people of CLSG is very high to see the full completion of electricity in their countries.
According to Sherif, the construction of the 1,303km of transmission line and multiple sub stations in Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are being finance by four donors.
With over four hundred million provided by the four donors both in grant and credit, the CSLG General Manager said governments of the four countries have also contributed to the project.
“They called it counterpart funding, funding that is contributed by the government- you got to provide that before donors bring funding”, he said.
“The government of Liberia has provided money for the resettlement action plan; that is funding for those that will be affected by the project”.
Giving some challenge about the project, Sherif said the Ebola crisis and the foreign exchange rate have been the two major challenges the project has faced.
“Actually, the mean challenge that we faced that led to the delay of the project implementation was the whole aspect of the Ebola; where we had to sit for almost a year plus. “
“And that actually imparted the implementation time line. And another challenge is the aspect of the funding largely driving by the exchange rate loses,” he said.
Under the World Bank financing, the TRANSCO CLSG management has awarded the contract for Lot 1 transmission line that runs from Yekepa to Buchanan to the JV Elecnor-Eiffage Energie of Spain.
On January 16, 2017, management awarded the Saudi Arabia based National Contracting Company Ltd for Lot 2 of the transmission line from Buchanan to Monrovia.
The milestone event however continues on January 18, 2017 when the TRANSCO CLSG management awards the contract for Lot 3 which runs from Mano in Liberia to Kenema and Bikongor in Sierra Leone to JYOTI Structures Limited of India, under the European Investment Bank (EIB) financing.
The contract for Lot 4 from Binkongor to Yiben via Bumbuna, which is also funded by the EIB, was signed with Kalpataru Power Transmission of India on January 19, 2017.
These signings mark one of the high points of a nearly 3-year long planning and project phase under the distinguished leadership of the General Manager.
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