Bio’s government goes back to APC Powership for electricity supply to Freetown

The Ministry of Energy in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) and the Electricity Generation and Transmission Company, wishes to inform the general public that they have concluded negotiations on a Two-year Utility Grid Infrastructure & Electricity Supply Agreement with the KaradenizPowership Kaya Bey Company Limited, (Karpowership), for the generation of electricity from its Maritime vessel docked in Freetown.

The Karpowership is moored adjacent to the Kingtom Power station and will provide electricity for two, (2) years with a one-year extension option.

 

Under the conditions of the agreement, the Karpowership which has a nominal capacity of 100 MW, will supply a Guaranteed   Capacity of 30MW for 7 (seven) months; (December, January, February, March, April, May, June), and 15 MW for 5 (five) months during the rainy season, (July, August, September, October, November) of each operational year.

As negotiations concluded on Thursday 31st May 2018, Karpowership commenced testing operations on Friday 1st June 2018.

Having observed the testing operations conducted so far, the Minister of Energy convened a high-level meeting with the Karpowership personnel, which was co – chaired by the Chairman, Board of Directors of EDSA and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy.

The meeting was attended by expert engineers from EDSA and EGTC, a Consultant Engineer from the CEMMATS Engineering Firm, and senior officers from the Ministry of Energy. Based on the test conducted so far, the meeting discussed and evaluated several technical issues, which needed to be addressed before signing the agreement. These include the following:

• Frequent power outages and network instability during the testing operations.
• Communication and coordination problem between the Karpowership and EGTC.
• Revised Generation and Dispatch Operations, as well as various Mode of Operations for the power system.

Having identified the above problems, the meeting then requested the Karpowership for an extension of the testing period, until the ship achieves sustained and guaranteed Generation Capacity of the negotiated 30MW.

The Ministry notes with great concern, the frustration of the public with respect to the frequent interruption of the electricity supply and the general power outage particularly in the city of Freetown and other part of the country.

Therefore, in keeping with the ideals of the New Direction to provide sustained electricity to the people and the rest of the country, the Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance hereby informs the general public that government will not sign the Karpowership agreement on the planned date of Monday 4th June 2018, until all technical issues are amicably resolved.

The Minister of Energy wishes to assure the public that he is resolute in this decision, and that the interest of the People of Sierra Leone is always paramount.  Government will not sign an agreement that will provide sub-standard service or goods.

Our people deserve full integrity and transparency.  This delay, though disappointing, is the right thing to do.

The Ministry regrets any insolvencies you may have suffered as a result of the frequent interruption of electricity supply and power outage.

During the extended testing period, the Ship will continue to provide power.  The public will be informed accordingly on the next step.