Sierra Leone News: Power Leone Launches First Electrification Project
By Stephen V. Lansana
Energicity Corp, operating under the name Power Leone, on September 5, 2019, launched its first Electrification Project in Sierra Leone to provide 24-hour electricity to 100,000 people and businesses by end of 2020.
Power Leone’s service in Sierra Leone is under a contract signed with the Ministry of Energy in January 2019. This contract is the culmination of the ambitious Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP) supported by the UK Department for International Development and implemented by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Upon completion of the project, RREP with a total of 90 minigrids across the Sierra Leone will be one of the largest off-grid distributed minigrid projects in Africa.
The project is the first rural minigrid project in Petifu Junction, Port Loko District. According to a statement, Power Leone will launch 31 more minigrids over the next 2 years. “By the ending of 2020, Power Leone will have completed deployment of all 31 projects and will be providing 1.5megawatts of solar powered electricity to over 100,000 people in the Moyamba, Port Loko and Kambia districts. Power Leone is already providing free electricity to Community Health Centers across 23 communities,” the company said in a statement.
Power Leone said that Petifu Junction, a village of 2000 people is the first beneficiary among the 14 surrounding villages under the Lokomasama Chiefdom to receive electricity since its formation in 1908, adding that in addition to residential users, it will benefit small holder farmers, two schools, community health center, and the Love Bridges Hospital, which is a charitable hospital in the locality that performs surgical operations.
CEO of Energicity Corp and Power Leone, Nicole Poindexter reiterated the company’s commitment in providing electricity. “We at Power Leone are pleased to be able to bring affordable, reliable electricity to tens of thousands of people in rural Sierra Leone. From returning light to Bauya to providing reliable power for surgeries in Kambia District, to providing electricity and ice making to fishermen to enable fishermen to double their incomes in Port Loko, we are certain that the power we bring will transform the lives of Sierra Leoneans today and for generations to come.”
The General Manager of Love Bridges Hospital, Alfred Young highlighted numerous challenges the hospital is facing due to lack of electricity. “We have to close down operation and send some patients to other nearby health centers each time we are maintenance our gensets,” he said. He noted that having constant electricity supply will help them to expand their services.
The Section Chief of Petifu Junction, Chief Obai Fath said that the lack of electricity has derailed economic growth in the village, increased suffering and forcing most of the young people to abandon the community to seek sustainable futures elsewhere. “Women and children are the most affected by the lack of electricity. Our women travel to distant places to buy ice-block for them to carry out their local businesses,” he said. “Despite the improvements in technology, our community continues to be in a deplorable state with high rates of health complications, crimes and profound hardships. Therefore, having electricity will improve all aspects of our lives.”
About Energicity
Energicity Corp is a developer and operator of offgrid minigrids serving rural communities with subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria operating under the names Black Star Energy Ltd, Power Leone, Atanya Solar respectively. Energicity provides affordable, reliable electricity that is scalable to every household and commercial need. Energicity was a 2018 participant in the Ghana Climate Innovation Center, and one of the winners of the EDF Pulse Africa Prize in 2018.
