Energy Revamp… CLSG Interconnects S/Leone and Liberia The CLSG Project Interconnects S/Leone and Liberia after Serious Efforts &Commitment from the New Direction Government

By: Austine Luseni

The Transco Côte d’Ivoire-Liberia-Sierra Leone -Guinea (CLSG) Power Project has on August 12, 2020 seen Sierra Leone interconnected with Liberia in what has been described by many engineers and observers as a milestone or a monumentally significant achievement.

The West Africa Power Pool Project aims at providing affordable and reliable electricity supply to the four countries with a giant hydropower plant in Ivory Coast serving as the generation hub, and with evacuation and distribution lines passing through Liberia to Sierra Leone and to Guinea.

It is worthy of note that since the New Direction administration of President Julius Maada Bio came to power, Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, has set his sight on fulfilling the President’s energy security and reformation dream. The CLSG project was straightaway given serious attention through the provision of Sierra Leone’s own financial commitment and the acceleration of work at various substation sites.

The aggressive work on substations and the stringing of cables or wires in fulfillment of Sierra Leone’s own commitment to the project has finally resulted into having Sierra Leone interconnected with Liberia. The transmission line from the Moa Substation in Liberia has finally been connected with the one at the Tiloma Substation in Sierra Leone.

Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, expressed his delight at the successful interconnection, noting that the Moa River had presented some daunting challenges in terms of its terrain and especially at this period of the year when the rains have increased in constancy. The minister said he was pleased to superintend over such an historic feat while also praising the Ministry of Finance for the support given to his ministry. He reaffirmed his commitment to overseeing the completion of the project.

Country Manager, Transco CLSG, Ing. Paul Saffa, said he couldn’t be more thrilled for the interconnection between Sierra Leone and Liberia. He said the electricity line passing through Sierra Leone is 537km, covering 53 local communities. Ing. Saffa also shed light on the five substations in Kenema, Kono, Bumbuna, Koinadugu and Kamakwei.

The CLSG project is key to transforming Sierra Leone’s electricity domain ,and with the commitment of the minister and his team and the successful interconnection between Sierra Leone and Liberia , Sierra Leoneans have every reason to champ at the bit or to expect great things in the not too distant future.