By Bill W. Cooper
The Managing Director of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Moni Captan, has disclosed that the Ivory Coast has reduced its power supply to Liberia by 80 percent, thus leaving Liberia with 10 megawatts out of previous 50 megawatts through the CLSG.
The shocking and embarrassing report on the current status of energy provision in Liberia comes amidst Liberia’s ongoing struggle to provide stable electricity to its citizens, and has had a negative impact on businesses, households, and essential services such as hospitals, among others.
The reduction in power supply from the Ivory Coast has further worsened Liberia’s already fragile electricity situation owing to the fact that Liberia has long struggled to provide stable electricity to its citizens, with frequent power outages and load shedding being a common practice.
The LEC boss, in an exclusive on Ok FM interview recently, disclosed that Ivory Coast which was providing Liberia with 50 megawatts of electricity under the CLSG has reduced it to 10 megawatts.
Mr. Captan pointed out that Ivory Coast’s reason to put the 50 megawatts of electricity by 40 megawatts is due to difficulties with its power generation source; something, which has affected their ability to export electricity to the country.
He, at the same time, revealed that the LEC is working to mitigate the impact of the reduced power supply by exploring alternative sources of electricity and implementing measures to improve the efficiency of the existing power infrastructure.
The LEC Chief Executive Officer further called on the government to prioritize investments in the electricity sector to ensure that Liberia has a reliable and sustainable source of power which was witnessed prior to the country’s civil war.
He added that it is important for the government to also invest in renewable energy sources such as solar and hydroelectric power to reduce the country’s dependence on imported electricity like is done in other neighboring countries.
Captan, at the same time, expressed his optimism about the future of Liberia’s electricity sector with a confidence that with the right investments and policies in place, the country can overcome its current energy crisis and provide stable electricity to its citizens.
