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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.

The Mesurado-1 well drilled by ExxonMobil on Block LB-13 has failed to find hydrocarbons, in the latest blow to Liberia’s hopes of emulating the exploration success of Ghana and Senegal. Partner Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) said the well intersected 145 metres of Late Cretaceous Santonian aged sand of which 118 metres was deemed to be reservoir quality, but no hydrocarbons were found.

On 15 December President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially commissioned the first 22MW turbine-generator unit at the 88MW Mount Coffee Hydropower rehabilitation project. A second turbine is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2017, and all four units should be operational by August 2017.The run-of-river hydropower plant on the Saint Paul River was built in the 1960s and destroyed during the civil war.

ExxonMobil began drilling the Mesurado-1 well on Block LB-13 on 22 November using the Seadrill West Saturn drillship. The well is being drilled about 50 miles offshore in 2,500 metres of water, targeting oil in Late Cretaceous sands.Meanwhile, African Petroleum, which drilled three wells offshore Liberia, has withdrawn from blocks LB-08 and LB-09 following the expiry of the production-sharing contracts. The company said the contracts had expired in June 2016 and it had been unable to agree an extension with Liberian authorities.

Electrical testing began on the first 22MW unit of the 88MW Mount Coffee hydroelectric power project on 3 December. Mechanical testing has been completed and the unit is expected to be officially commissioned on 15 December. A second turbine is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2017. All four units should be operational by August 2017.

Liberia has enacted the new Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, which requires competitive bidding for all petroleum contracts, and that all oil companies declare their true owners. The interim management team (IMT) of the National Oil Company of Liberia (Nocal) has welcomed the new law, describing it as “a milestone achievement for the country’s emerging oil & gas sector”.

Operator ExxonMobil has said it plans to begin drilling its first well offshore Liberia in November (AE 309/13). The Mesurado-1 well on Block LB-13 will target Cretaceous Santonian-age reservoirs. Operations will be based out of Abidjan, in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. ExxonMobil farmed into the block in 2013, taking 83%, but drilling was delayed by the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in 2014. The other 17% is held by Canadian Overseas Petroleum, which is carried by Exxon for its share of the first $120m of drilling costs.

Sable Mining is to cancel its AIM listing and take the company private after a series of factors including the lower iron ore price and a Global Witness investigation depressed its share price. The cancellation takes effect from 17 October.Sable’s main asset is the Nimba iron ore project in south-east Guinea. Sentiment has been affected by political instability in Guinea, the Ebola epidemic and low iron ore prices, as well as what Sable described as “unpredictability of legal systems together with unsubstantiated and irresponsible allegations and adverse press speculation”.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially inaugurated a 10MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant on 13 September at the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) compound on Bushrod Island outside Monrovia. The $27m project was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Finance for the construction of facilities for offloading, transport and storage of HFO was provided by the World Bank through its $35m Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project. Sirleaf switched on the lights in the Snow Hill community in Monrovia’s Gardnerville district and said the restored Mount Coffee hydro plant would start to come on line in December 2016.

A grand jury has indicted Sable Mining chief executive Andrew Groves and seven other people following a damning report from Global Witness outlining the business model followed by Groves and his business partner, former England cricketer Phil Edmonds.President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry in May into Sable’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the report accused the company of bribing public officials.

Ecowas Refinery Liberia Limited (ERLL) has given KBR a contract for a bankable feasibility study for the development of a 100,000 b/d refinery at Buchanan. KBR said in a statement it would provide a market study, refinery configuration development, and environmental, social and health impact assessment study. The work is expected to be performed over five months, with KBR assessing the optimal refinery configuration and developing the financial model, including capital and operational cost estimates supported by China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation (HQC), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.