Sahr Jawara Allieu, AYV News, September 7, 2023

Communications and Community Relations Manager, of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA), Sahr Nepor has told AYV that it was the management of the EDSA that requested the Ship to seize its supply of electricity.

It has been rumored that the Karpowership has shut down its services since Friday last week because of   government’s failure to pay millions of dollars to the Karpoweship as debt.

Nepor said: “The Karpowership is still in operations. Just that, we are now taking minimal rate of electricity from them because we have other interventions in country”.

He went on that Sierra Leone is now at a season where it can generate full electricity supply through the Bumbuna Hydroelectric, the Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) Electricity Networks Interconnection Projects and a standby thermal plant at Black Hall Road which are less cost effective.

To avoid electricity wastage, the EDSA requested the Karpowership management to reduce its supply for now and if need be, they will be recalled to continue supply.

In June 2018, Karpowership signed a contract with Sierra Leone’s national utility company, Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority, Ministry of Energy, and Ministry of Finance to deploy a Powership to supply 30 MW.

In 2018, an addendum agreement was signed to increase the capacity to 50 MW; in 2020 a third addendum was signed to increase the capacity to 65 MW. Karpowership is operational in the country since 2018 and has been supplying 80% of Sierra Leone’s total electricity needs.