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The World Bank Group (WBG) has released more details about the $64.2m first phase of its Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project. The WBG’s International Development Association is proposing a $44m loan and $15m grant for the project. Japan is funding $2.7m and a further $2.5m is expected from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme. Liberia’s government is aiming for universal access to electricity by 2030 through its National Electrification Strategy, which envisions the population being supplied by both on- and off-grid technologies.

The UK’S Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on 11 December announced that it had signed an agreement to invest £1m ($1.3m) of equity in renewable-powered battery rental company Mobile Power. The investment was part of a £2m series A funding round.

The United Kingdom’s Renewable Energy Performance Platform on 11 December announced that it had signed an agreement to invest £1m equity in renewable-powered battery rental company Mobile Power.

In its regular review of the Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project in Liberia, the World Bank Group (WBG) said the programme is on track to meet its target of 56,450 new connections by April 2022, with 33,018 already made. Work on the 66kV Paynesville-Kakata transmission line has been completed and the line was energised along with a 66/33kV substation at the end of March.

Off-grid solar company Easy Solar announced on 29 September that it has raised $3m through its series A equity round from impact investor Acumen and the Netherlands’ FMO, and $2m of debt through crowdfunding platform Trine. Easy Solar operates in Liberia and Sierra Leone. “Sierra Leone’s low electrification rates combined with limited alternatives for clean energy make Easy Solar’s business model highly relevant,” FMO venture programme manager Marieke Roestenberg said.

The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) says it has prequalified seven Liberian companies to act as local partners in the offshore licensing round that launched in April offering nine blocks in the unexplored Harper Basin.

A joint venture of Sri Lanka’s Enco and Hydro Power International and Japan’s Fuso Corporation will undertake the construction of the 2.5MW Kaiha 2 plant on the Kaiha River near Kolahun in Lofa County, close to the border with Guinea and Sierra Leone. The joint venture signed a contract worth $12.47m on 26 June with the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency, according to a notice on the World Bank website.

Liberia on 10 April launched a licensing round offering nine blocks in the unexplored Harper Basin off the country’s eastern coast. Would-be bidders have until 31 October to prequalify, then bids will be accepted until the 28 February closing date. “The Harper Basin offers significant exploration potential in one of the few remaining unexplored deep-water basins in West Africa. The initial interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic data identifies many leads and prospects across the entire basin,” President George Weah told the launch event, which was streamed online.

The board of the Extractive IndustriesTransparency Initiative (EITI) has agreed to lift Liberia’s temporary suspension with effect from 6 March. A statement said Liberia had shown improvement in implementation related to stakeholder oversight and the publication of outstanding EITI reports. Liberia was one of the first countries to implement the EITI, under former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, but was suspended from the initiative in September 2018 due to reporting delays and the lack of a multi-stakeholder group to oversee the process.

Total has signed an agreement to sell its fuel marketing and services businesses in Liberia and Sierra Leone to West African distribution business Conex Oil & Gas Holdings.The assets consist of a network of 63 service stations, general trade fuel sales and petroleum products import and storage operations.The sale is expected to be completed during Q2 2020. “These sales will contribute to Total’s ongoing divestment programme and demonstrate our ability to relentlessly highgrade our portfolio,” said Total chief financial officer Jean- Pierre Sbraire.

The Rural and Renewable Energy Agency invites expressions of interest from engineering consultancy firms by 6 April to prepare detailed designs, bidding documents, tendering and supervision of works for the construction of the 9.34MW Gbedin Falls run-of-river hydropower plant and associated distribution system infrastructure.

The US Millennium Challenge Account-Liberia (MCA-L) has hired India’s Tata Power to provide on-the-job training to at least 100 technical and non-technical staff of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC). Tata Power will assess staff capacity and develop a medium to long-term master and strategic plan for training and capacity building at the utility. MCA-L said LEC has still not fully recovered from the impact of the country’s civil war between 1989 and 2003.

The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) has announced that its licensing round launch event on 15 April will now be conducted via a webinar to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The round is expected to offer nine blocks numbered LB-25 to LB-33 in the Harper Basin and will be governed by the revised petroleum law passed last year. LPRA said the launch would be a small ceremony attended by delegates from Liberia only, with a speech from President George Weah, a technical presentation on the geology and prospects of the Harper Basin, and a presentation on the regulatory framework.

The Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) has issued a general procurement notice for the construction of the 9.34MW Gbedin Falls run-of-river hydropower plant and associated infrastructure. Bidding documents are expected to be available from March for the related construction, equipment supply and consultancy contracts, which will also include the electrification of communities close to the existing distribution network, and capacity building for hydropower plant development and management, according to the notice published on 18 February.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a $33.74m agreement to finance the 9.34MW Gbedin Falls hydro scheme on the St John River in Nimba County. The Renewable Energy for Electrification in Liberia project is funded by a grant from the AfDB’s African Development Fund and the Strategic Climate Fund’s Scaling-up Renewable Energy programme.