Project
Access to electricity is difficult in Greenville. It is a driver of development but unavailable to almost everybody in South-East Liberia.
Most of Liberia’s infrastructure was either destroyed or significantly deteriorated during the nation's first and second civil wars that took place from 1989 to 2003. Historically, the energy infrastructure has been located in and around the capital, Monrovia, and less than 3% of the population in rural Liberia have access to electricity today. Roughly half of the electricity that is generated comes from highly polluting and costly small diesel generators.
Another challenge is that the Government of Liberia does not have the capacity to supply electricity to most of the economic sector, which is essential to reaching its goal of attaining middle-income status. Inadequate electricity supply also remains a crippling constraint for private sector and particularly for industrial development.
The south east of Liberia has been mostly at the margin of development for a long period of time. Energy accessibility is very difficult and electricity, perceived as one of the main drivers of development, is unavailable to almost everybody.
To address these challenges, Liberia signed a Financing Agreement with the EU in May 2020 for the Rural Renewal Electrification of South-East Liberia programme. The goal is to stimulate socio-economic development and improve the living conditions of the rural population living in the towns of Buchanan, Greenville and Barclayville by increasing access to reliable and affordable renewable energy.
The financing programme is part of the Global Gateway, a new European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. It will also attempt to catalyse private sector investment in the development of electricity mini-grids.
Having already been heavily involved in NIRAS’ previous hydropower plant feasibility study in Sinoe County, our Renewable Energy Expert Simon Taylor was instrumental to the implementation and coordination of the assignment.
Simon has been working with NIRAS since 2018, and has been part of our mission to becoming a recognised driver of positive change and innovation in sustainable development.
In this feature, he shares his experiences and adventures on the fieldwork in Liberia, making an impact in the renewable energy sector, and his personal fight against climate change.
Between January 2022 and June 2024, NIRAS conducted geo-technical, environmental and socioeceonomic (household) resettlement action planning and financial feasibility surveys and assessments for the electricity distribution networks and renewable energy plants foreseen under the electrification programme. The project team also prepared the tender documents for the respective works, supplies and services contracts, and provided procurement assistance to the EU, the Rural & Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) and the National Authorising Office (NAO).
Finally, a detailed power demand study was conducted for assessing the viability of the construction of a solar photovoltaics plant, mini-grid network in Barclayville, as well as 250 remote solar home systems on the outskirts of the town.
Once the contracts have been signed and the construction of the different works completed, the built energy infrastructure is expected to deliver a range of benefits for the rural communities. Firstly, the team estimated that 17,064 new households and 1,442 businesses, community and public institutions (including hospitals) will gain access to electricity in Buchanan, Greenville and Barclayville. Secondly, 500 and 200 streetlights will enhance the safety, security and socioeconomic well-being of communities in Buchanan and Greenville, respectively. Thirdly, the contracts will create at least 300 full-time construction and 124 long term operation and maintenance employment opportunities. Finally, an estimated 1,740,624 tonnes of CO2 will be avoided over a period of 20 years.
To ensure sustainable long-term operation and maintenance of the different infrastructures, NIRAS conducted a comprehensive institutional analysis.
This focussed on evaluating and proposing optimal institutional and legal frameworks for the electricity sector in Liberia, specifically targeting the private operators of the distribution networks in the three targeted towns.
The process involved defining the structure of the projects, including ownership, concession types, financing and business models. The team collaborated with the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission and the RREA to establish concession frameworks, and develop strategies for competitive and transparent selection of private operators.
Assessments were also performed to understand if the works were financial feasible for the operators and to estimate their economic and social returns in the long run.
“Simon was one of the first consultants I had the pleasure to work with when I joined NIRAS, and I learned why he is one of our trusted experts. He not only has a strong technical expertise in the renewable energy sector, but also understands how to deliver projects effectively so that they contribute to sustainable progress and people's lives. Simon shares our great passion for development work and will go to great lengths to help NIRAS deliver in even the most remote areas, for example when he spent more than three days in a car and harsh road conditions (the 4-wheel drive and exhaust pipe were lost on the way) to reach the most remote out of three targeted towns in southeastern Liberia.”
Pascal Wubben, Project Manager at NIRAS
estimated tonnes of CO2 avoided over 20 years
street lights will be constructed in Buchanan and Greenville
households will gain access to electricity in Buchanan, Greenville and Barclayville
To protect both the environment and the communities potentially affected by the projects, NIRAS carried out an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for each infrastructure in the three areas to identify potential environmental and social impacts during the construction and operation of the projects.
Following the impact identification, NIRAS proposed a set of measures for the subsequent contractors and government agencies to ensure that the planning process integrates requirements for mitigating adverse effects and to arrive at a balanced project formulation that results in sustainable energy developments.
In addition, NIRAS mapped the potential persons, properties and communities affected by the projects to support the NAO in any subsequent resettlement action planning and arrangements to be made to compensate local communities for their losses as a result of the projects.
Finally, different stakeholder consultations and household surveys were conducted in the three towns to: (i) inform communities and stakeholders of the envisaged works and activities and their potential impacts (both positive and negative), (ii) listen to their concerns and (iii) establish their demand and willingness-to-pay for electricity.
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