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The board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) decided on 4 September to suspend Liberia for failing to publish its EITI report for the year to June 2016 by the 1 July 2018 deadline. The government had asked to extend the deadline, but the board declined, noting that the request had not been endorsed by Liberia’s multi-stakeholder group (MSG), as the group had not been reconstituted since the end of its term in October 2017.

The government of Liberia and the European Union (EU) signed a €18.5m ($21.5m) contract with Lagos-based MBH Power Ltd on 9 August to design and build 66kV overhead lines and extend the existing electricity substations around Monrovia, at Bushrod, Kru Town, Capitol, Congo Town and Paynesville.

President George Weah has ordered justice minister Frank Musa Dean to investigate the awarding of Block LB-13 to ExxonMobil following a report by Global Witness alleging that Liberian officials illegally profited from the deal. The block was awarded in 2005 to Broadway Consolidated, then held by its successor company Peppercoast Petroleum, which transferred its stake in 2011 to Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd (COPL).

Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has signed a management services contract with Ireland’s ESB International, as part of the policy and institutional reforms agreed under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact. LEC was previously run by Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International under a donor-funded five-year management contract awarded in July 2010. MHI’s contract was extended in January 2013 to December 2016, and the Canadian company oversaw the rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee hydro power plant, which was commissioned in December 2016.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) invites expressions of interest by 29 November from consulting firms to assist the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency to carry out a detailed environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and resettlement action plan (RAP) for the 9.4MW Gbedin hydropower project on the St John River in Nimba County, as well as access roads and an associated 33kV distribution network

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) has abandoned efforts to negotiate a new production-sharing contract for offshore Block LB-13, where last year’s Mesurado-1 well failed to find hydrocarbons. COPL said in September that operator ExxonMobil had decided to pull out, but that it was seeking a new contract for the block

National Oil Company of Liberia (Nocal) plans a licensing round early next year in the hope of reviving exploration activity following the new petroleum law passed in 2016. Nocal petroleum engineer Timothy Kudar Jarry told African Energy the round would focus on the Harper Basin, off the east coast running up to the Ivorian border, where he said studies showed a lot of potential.

The West African Power Pool (WAPP) General Secretariat invites expressions of interest by 2 October from consulting firms to provide technical assistance for the optimisation of the 88MW Mount Coffee hydropower plant. All four 22MW units at the refurbished plant on the Saint Paul River were synchronised with the grid in May 2017, marking the return to full operation of the run-of-river station for the first time since 1990, when it was largely destroyed during the country’s civil war.

Essel Group Middle East has signed an agreement with Bell Geospace to conduct a comprehensive airborne full tensor gravity gradiometry (FTG) survey across Simba Essel Energy’s exploration block in the Roberts-Bassa Basin.Under the contract, Bell Geospace will fly FTG surveys across 2,962km2 of the onshore coastal strip. Survey flights will take place in Q4 2017 and early 2018 to produce 3D imaging of the sub-surface geology. The company said the data would be used to plan a seismic programme.

Liberia’s Ministry of Finance and Development Planning announced on 31 July that a new transmission and distribution project worth €35.5m ($39m) has begun implementation following a meeting in Monrovia. The Monrovia Consolidation of Electricity Transmission and Distribution Project will put in place additional network infrastructure to evacuate power from the 88MW Mount Coffee hydro project to the capital.The European Union (EU) is funding the project, which will be monitored by the National Authorising Authority, which is also the contracting authority and coordinates, manages and oversees all EU projects in Liberia.

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has awarded Liberia a $23.25m grant to develop a 9.8MW hydropower plant at Gbedin Falls on the St John River in Nimba County. The project, to be implemented by the African Development Bank (AfDB), will be funded by the CIF’s Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme.A bank spokesman told African Energy that technical feasibility studies for the project had been completed, and work was under way to finalise the environmental and social impact assessment.

Israel’s Energiya Global will invest $1bn over four years in renewable energy projects under a memorandum of understanding signed on 2 June by the Israeli government and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) as part of a diplomatic drive to woo African support. A statement from the investment platform, sister company to Gigawatt Global, said projects would be built across the 15 Ecowas member states.

National Oil Company of Liberia has granted Simba Energy a new reconnaissance licence that increases its acreage by 1,595.7km2 for a total of 2,961.7km2. The newly expanded exploration area connects Simba’s existing onshore concession of 1,366km2 with the addition of 1,595.7km2 of shallow offshore acreage which adjoins offshore blocks LB-14 operated by Chevron and LB-13 operated by ExxonMobil. The new reconnaissance licence is valid for two years, in which Simba has committed to a full tensor gravity gradiometry survey, and an initial phase of 2D seismic acquisition, followed by 3D seismic acquisition if deemed necessary.

The Environmental Protection Agency held a public consultation on 6 April to discuss the environmental and social impact of a proposed 120MW hydro scheme on the St John River. The proposed scheme, being developed by HydroChina, would improve power supply to Bong and Grand Bassa counties. According to the environmental and social impact assessment for the scheme carried out by Natural Resources Development Corporation, residents of Ceegar Town, Weagon Town, and Rufus Kamei Town would have to be relocated.

Bid documents will be released in March for the Liberia Energy Efficiency and Access Project. The project aims to expand the transmission and distribution network in the Roberts International Airport corridor as well as from Pleebo to Fish Town in eastern Liberia, near the border with Côte d’Ivoire; develop energy access in nearby areas; build human and technical capacity at the Liberia Electricity Corporation, the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency; and improve energy efficiency.