Liberia: LEC Pushes for Adequate, Sustainable Power Supply

— As the Regulator gives corporations permission to import an additional 110 MW of electricity

The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has been given the go-ahead to import into the country additional megawatts of electricity that would help the corporation meet the growing demand for power in the country.

The Board of Commissioners of the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) granted the LEC permission after amending its electricity Import License.

The amendment now permits the Corporation to increase its electricity import capacity into the country from 10MW to 110 MW–an astronomical increment that would help make supply efficient and sustainable in the country.

Many stakeholders in the power sector believe this initiative will help LEC meet its national goal of 70% access to electricity for Liberians by the end of 2023 as projected by the government.

“This amendment gives LEC a huge window of opportunity to import electricity into the country from other countries in the subregion and meet the demands of large customers," LEC Executive Director for Engineering and Major Connections, Dele Shobayo, said at the license granting ceremony in Monrovia recently.

“This will allow the LEC to increase its import quota to close the gap, especially during the dry season,” Shobayo, who is a professional Engineer, said. “And this is due to the seasonality of its major source of electricity, the Mount Coffee Hydro facility.”

In March 2023, LEC submitted an amendment application to the Commission requesting an increase in its electricity import quota based upon what it described as “fast increasing demand that has consequently raised LEC’s average daily peak load to over 56MW in less than three months.”

In addition, LEC informed the Commission that demand for electricity in Liberia is still increasing and more bulk customers are yet to be connected to the national grid.

The corporation’s management noted that imported power demand in the next few years will continue to increase at a fast rate beyond what was anticipated in the agreement with the Ivory Coast-based company CIE.

“This is why I think this amendment is a milestone feat for the LEC because it will lead to the improvement of the electricity sector of Liberia,” Shobayo said.

He lauded the management of LERC for the level of collaboration and coordination between LERC and LEC.

“We are pleased to grant LEC the exclusive right to purchase and import electricity into the country in the capacity of up to 110 MW,” The LERC’s Chairman, Dr. Lawrence D. Sekajipo said. “We hope this will assist LEC meet its national goal of 70% access to electricity for Liberians by the government's projected date by 2023,” Chairman Sekajipo stated.

To meet this target, Sekajibo called on the Ministry of Mines and Energy and LEC to implement the national distribution policy on electricity. He said the Commission had put in place all regulations to ensure private sector investment in the electricity sector”.

LERC Acting Managing Director of LERC, Engineer Abu Sanso, stated earlier that the ceremony formalized another rigorous process which started in March when the Commission received an application from the LEC in keeping with the terms and conditions of the issued Electricity Import License to amend provisions that will allow the LEC to import Electricity totaling 110 MW.

Sanso added that the Commission was acting in accordance with the 2015 Electricity Law of Liberia citing Section 3.3 Power and Duties of the Regulator that the Commission must “Consider applications for licenses and may issue Licenses for Import and Export of Electricity.”

“This yet again is a major milestone achievement toward sustainable and reliable electricity supply to end-users within the Liberia Interconnected Transmission System”, he asserted.

Earlier in March 2021, the Commission issued six licenses to the LEC including an electricity Import License.