Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel Tweah recently claimed that Liberia is exporting electricity to neighboring Cote d’Ivoire. Minister Tweah is seen in a recently video telling a gathering of supporters in Montserrado County that officials at the Liberia Electricity Cooperation (LEC) have informed him that Liberia has for the “first-time exported electricity to Cote d’Ivoire”.
This statement has sparked public debate with some critics terming the statement as misleading considering the power challenge that many Liberians face. According to the World Bank, only 29.8% of Liberia’s population have access to electricity as of 2021.
Is Liberia Exporting Power to Ivory Coast?
To verify this statement by Minister Tweah, we contacted TRANSCO CLSG, the company that operates the transmission line that connects Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and LEC.
Transco CLSG is an institution implementing the CLSG interconnection project which is a sub-regional project under the West Africa Power Pool. The name CLSG is an acronym that represents the four nations that made up the project which includes Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
These four countries signed and ratified an International Treaty establishing a Regional Transmission Company known as TRANSCO CLSG with a mission to finance, construct, own, operate and maintain the regional power transmission facility to enable exchange of electricity between CLSG countries.
The project construction consists of two main infrastructures, they include the four main 225kv high voltages Transmission Lines and the construction of 12 Sub-Stations in the four countries.
The Liberia Electricity Corporation is a public utility entity created by an act of legislation in 1973 with the mandate to produce and supply economical and reliable energy power to the entire nation while also maintaining the corporation financial viability.
LEC generates power through two hydroelectric stations in Mount Coffee and a thermal station in the LEC Brushrod Island Generating station.
Mount Coffee is generating 88 MW of electric power through the St. Paul River while the Heavy Fuel Oil Brushrod Island Generating station is generating 38 MW of electric power.
In an email to LVL Fcat Checking Desk, the Liberia Country Manager of Transco CLSG, Mr. Jerry Taylor wrote: “Transco CLSG energy flows occur from all direction among the countries that make up the CLSG line depending on the demand and supply capacity of member countries.
“So, what is happening now on the CLSG line is that there are times during the day when energy flows from LEC to Cote d’Ivoire because of the excess water being received at the Mount Coffee Hydro Plant in the rainy season.
“However, in most instances it is Cote d’Ivoire that supply energy to LEC particularly between 7pm to 12am when the demand on the LEC lines is high.”
The Power Purchasing Agreement that exits between Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire is for Cote d’Ivoire to supply energy to LEC.
Mr. Taylor continues: “It happens that sometimes LEC injects more than 9 megawatts of power into the CLSG line due to the integrated nature of the networks, whereas LEC receives 15 megawatts at peak periods. The balance will be positive from Côte d’Ivoire to LEC.”
“The purpose of the interconnection that exists between Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire and other member states of the CLSG is not only a matter of supporting the supply of power, but to have a larger network together and to benefit from a more stable network and the supply of power.”
We also contacted the Chief Executive Office of LEC Mr. Monie R. Captan, who said that Liberia exported 4.827 million kilowatt/ hour in July 2023. Mr. Captan said the power exported to Cote d’Ivoire is valued at $547, 900. The amount according to the LEC boss will go against Liberia’s bill with Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr. Captan did not provide any documentary evidence to back the numbers he provided to LVL Fact Checking Desk.
LVL Fact Checking Desk has also contacted Cote d’Ivorie Energies, LEC counterpart, to provide details about the exporting of power to that country. When CI Energies respond to our inquiry, we will update this report.
However, the Power Purchasing Agreement signed between Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire shows that Ivory Coast supplies Liberia with electricity and not the other way around.
Conclusion
Based on the facts explained above, we conclude that “sometimes LEC injects more than 9 megawatts of power into the CLSG line due to the integrated nature of the networks” provided by the TRANSCO CLSG transmission line. But we concluded that there is no power purchasing agreement that allow for Liberia to sell electricity to Ivory Coast.
Note: This report has been updated to provide a further explanation about the claim that Liberia is “exporting of power to Ivory Coast”.
This report was developed with the support of Internews through the USAID Media Activity project. The funder has no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this content.