A delegation made up of Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Energy and other officials of Sierra Leone’s energy sector, as well as a team from the Commercial Unit of Bui Power Authority (BPA) were recently at the GRIDCo Head Office to engage on the viability of transmitting power to meet Sierra Leone’s growing energy needs.
On behalf of the Chief Executive (CE), Ing. Mark Baah, Director, Corporate Strategy, warmly received and welcomed the ministerial delegation. Other Management staff who joined him welcome the delegation were; Mrs. Monica Senanu, Director, Legal; Ing. Frank Otchere, Director, System Operations; Ing. Bernard Gyan, Director Technical Services, and Mr. Edmund Martey, Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis, who represented the Director of Finance.
During the meeting, Ing. Edmond None the Deputy Minister of Energy from Sierra Leone indicated that his team was in Ghana to engage with generator partners on sourcing power from Ghana. They expressed interest in discussing with GRIDCo, the feasibility of transmitting power to Sierra Leone in the short term, due to Sierra Leone’s urgent energy needs.
Ing. Baah explained that GRIDCo is already connected to Côte d’Ivoire and has been in discussions with TRANSCO CLSG about installing a transmission line with the capacity of up to 200MW of power. He further noted that, this is not the first request to supply power to Sierra Leone, stating, “We are very much aware of the need,” and highlighted previous requests leading to engagements with TRANSCO CLSG; the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP), and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) in this regard.
The Deputy Minister outlined Sierra Leone’s energy needs, stating that the country would require 50MW of power for Phase 1 of their plan to improve the national supply by June 2025, and 70-100MW for Phase 2 by 2026. He inquired about GRIDCo’s willingness to transmit this power.
Ing. Baah reassured the Sierra Leone delegation that, from a technical standpoint, there is no restriction on GRIDCo’s ability to transmit the power. However, he stated that any challenges would likely stem from commercial or regulatory issues, as Côte d’Ivoire has expressed concerns about system constraints, which could impact the cost of using the system.
Both parties agreed on the next steps to facilitate progress, with the aim of reaching a consensus by the end of March 2025.
In conclusion, Ing. Baah remarked, “We have also embarked on a trip to Sierra Leone to understand the terrain and assess the feasibility of this initiative. As a Transmission Company, we remain committed to facilitating these transactions with the backing of WAPP and ERERA. Our engagements continue in that regard.”