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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.

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 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.

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.

The West African Power Pool is seeking expressions of interest from consultants by 9 December to carry out feasibility studies and environmental and social impact assessments for a 150MW hydropower plant on the St Paul River and the phased development of up to 90MWp of solar PV capacity.

President George Weah on 16 October signed into law the amended Petroleum Act of 2019, which aims to update the 2014 law as part of efforts to revive offshore oil and gas exploration. The law increases block sizes to a maximum of 3,500km2, from 2,000km2 previously. National Oil Company of Liberia (Nocal) is working with TGS-Nopec to re-draw the blocks. The re-sized blocks will align with the Global Grid System as mandated by the Economic Community of West African States for its members, Nocal said.

Liberia’s Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) invites sealed bids by 25 October for the design, supply and construction of the 2.5MW Kaiha 2 small hydropower plant on the Kaiha River, near Kolahun, in Lofa County. The contract is to be financed by the World Bank under the Liberia Renewable Energy Access Project. The hydropower plant is the pilot project of the World Bank scheme, which is designed to expand access to electricity in remote areas and to promote the use of renewable energy, while reducing the use of imported fuel.

National Oil Company of Liberia (Nocal) has signed a multi-year well data management agreement with Core Laboratories Sales BV in an attempt to revive its offshore oil and gas exploration efforts. Speaking at the 1 August signing ceremony, Nocal chief executive Saifuah-Mai Gray said the agreement signalled a new era for the sector, which had been dormant for the past three years. “A key mandate of the Nocal Act involves the management of data which represents a major income stream for Nocal.

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) have announced an $8m loan for a 2.1MW run-of-river hydropower plant in River Gee County. The project, to be developed by the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency, will benefit over 30,000 people through providing a clean, reliable and affordable source of energy to households, schools, health facilities and small businesses. The project will directly contribute to achieving the national rural electrification goal of 35% by 2030, Irena said.