Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Energy met with representatives from New Generation Power International and Nations Solar this week to formalize an agreement for the two companies to install 200 MW of power generation facilities throughout the country. The proposed Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA) among the parties would support Sierra Leone’s goal of delivering 1 GW of energy in a country in which 80% of the population lacks access to electricity.
The plan involves installing multiple sources of energy such as solar PV, hydro, thermal and distributed microgrid solutions around the country. From the press release issued by New Generation Power:
“The first 20MW solar project is expected to break ground later this year with an additional 180MW of solar to follow over the next two years under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Simultaneously, plans for a 132MW hydro facility will be built-out [with a view to being] operational by spring 2018 under a 35-year PPA.
NGPI will develop, execute and operate the projects under a Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis in addition to supplying project capital based on the final signed PPPA.”