AYV News, July 4, 2024
Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change Renewable Energy and Food Security, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella has said the Bumbuna Phase 2 Project is a sham.
He expressed dismay that a company held on to that project for over 12 years with nothing to show for it and at the end of the day, request that, the government pay them $90 million for doing absolutely nothing.
Dr. Yumkella said: “Is that fair to a nation? No. We are ready to stand against such bad deals, and the government of Sierra Leone is ready to face the company to the international court of arbitration. Many professionals who have taken a look at that project have termed it as ‘bad’. We are ready to stand against any bad deal in this country”.
The Project involves an increase in the capacity of the Bumbuna Hydro-electric project in Sierra Leone from 50MW by 322 MW to 372 MW by a combination of modifications to the existing dam and the construction of a 2nd dam 32 km upstream.
The Upgrading of Bumbuna combined with the implementation of the CLSG line being sponsored by EU Africa ITF is ranked number 15 among the agreed Regional Priority Projects of the “Update for the ECOWAS Revised Master Plan for the Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy – Final Report – Volume 4: Executive Summary” of October 2011 in respect of the West African Power Pool (“WAPP”).
Bumbuna is recognised as a Phase 1 priority project in the WAPP Masterplan, to be implemented by 2017. Phase 1 projects are defined in the Master Plan as those important for implementation of the WAPP master plan to ensure adequate load supply in the WAPP and the ECOWAS region. The Project will also increase the generation capacity of Sierra Leone by 537%, as the existing 50 MW Bumbuna dam already constitutes 80% of grid connected power in Sierra Leone.
While a portion of the Bumbuna electricity is anticipated to be supplied within Sierra Leone, a significant percentage is anticipated to be exported via the CLSG interconnector, which is to connect to/at Bumbuna it will be contribute to regional electricity supplies and ECOWAS WAPP load supply.
