- CrossBoundary Energy commissions a solar PV power plant in Tonkolili, Sierra Leone.
- The new facility provides clean electricity to Miro Forestry and Timber Products’ factory.
The solar photovoltaic plant commissioned at Tonkolili, Sierra Leone, now powers part of Miro Forestry and Timber Products operations. The plant has a capacity of 236 kWp and is connected to a 389 kWh battery storage system. The project was developed and financed by CrossBoundary Energy, an investment company based in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to CrossBoundary Energy, the solar plant can cover 25% of the needs of Miro Forestry and Timber Products’ Tonkolili mill. “The project is the first commercial and industrial solar power purchase agreement for a forestry company in West Africa,” says CrossBoundary.
With rising energy prices, Miro can reduce its use of fossil fuels thanks to the new facilities. The implementation of this initiative received funding assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The US banking institution provided a $1 million grant in 2017 to support CrossBoundary’s debut into the Sierra Leonean market. The investment firm intends to swap out the diesel generators employed by numerous enterprises in Sierra Leone. The West African nation has one of the highest electricity rates in the West African sub-region, according to the United States Agency for International Trade (ITA), partly because of its limited generation capacity. According to the same source, the country has an installed electrical capacity of only 150 MW, serving 150,000 customers for a population estimated by the World Bank at nearly 8 million.