With constant power cuts and a massive $40 million government debt owed to the Turkish power generating and supply company – Karpowership, the people of Sierra Leone, especially residents of the capital Freetown have lost all hopes of the restoration of electricity supplies.

Sierra Leone’s energy poverty, like other countries in the African continent, has compounded massively. Most of the country still depends on firewood for cooking fuel and the country’s progress towards renewable shift is extremely slow. Over 72 per cent of the country has no access to electricity and 99.2 per cent depend on unclean cooking fuel.

The hybrid system efficiently combines energy from solar, the national grid, and a diesel generator. One of the key features of this installation is the remote monitoring system, which provides real-time information on energy generation, inverter performance, weather conditions, and energy usage.

Major initiatives under the programme include a newly announced project to help young women build careers in renewable energy; financing mini-grid development through the Universal Energy Facility; advising on how to improve the affordability of mini-grid electrification; managing the solar electrification of hospitals; and more.

Aptech Africa, an Uganda-based EPC company for solar energy systems, has installed off-grid solar systems for several community health centers (CHCs) in Sierra Leone. The project is funded by USAID and the Sierra Leonean subsidiary of Orange, a global multiservice operator.

PIDG company InfraCo Africa and PowerGen Renewable Energy (PowerGen) have announced a new financing model that will help scale clean energy access in Sierra Leone. The new project is expected to deliver 1,660 first-time connections across eight sites.