Government is reported to have secured US$42 million for rural energy or electrification, mainly from Buchanan, Grand Bassa, through Cestos, Rivercess, Greenville, Sinoe, to Barclay, Grand Kru County, in rural Liberia.
Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA’s) Executive Director, Joseph Tarr, made the disclosure yesterday, September 5, 2023, stating that funding for the project was secured in 2021 from the European Union (EU), by the government.
He also stated, among many things, that the project is expected to get into motion either this Friday, September 8, or thereabout in the coming days.
Tarr said engineers from the Agency are in the field or on the road from Buchanan to Greenville, working both day and night to make sure that the project gets underway, despite the rainy season.
This was made known on the Okay FM afternoon drive talk show yesterday in Monrovia. RREA facilitates and accelerates the economic transformation of rural communities, through the private sector and community initiatives, and also promotes commercial development and supply of modern energy products and services to rural communities.
It manages the rural energy fund that facilitates and provides for the coordination and sustainable financing of energy projects and programs.
The government has set a target to provide rural electrification at a rate of 35 percent by 2030, benefitting over a million people, through a combination of grid extension and decentralized grids.
The national grid will develop mostly in the growth corridor area, where the majority of the population is concentrated, thus electrifying 66 percent of all rural consumers.
The large decentralized grids will represent 27 percent of the consumers, with 5 percent for mini grids. Individual off-grid solutions will only bring electricity to 18,900 people.
33 percent will be served by decentralized grids in excess of the 25 percent target, established under the renewable energy policy of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).
The Agency is mandated by its legislation to develop in collaboration with the Mines and Energy Ministry and other stakeholders, a rural energy strategy and master plan for Liberia.
