- Liberia has included a solar energy budget line for rural electrification in the 2021/2022 budget.
- Liberia plans to increase clean energy mini-grid deployment using the TEC model.
Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Samuel D. Tweah, stated that the government has established a solar energy budget line in the 2021/2022 budget to support rural electrification. While touring the Totota Electric Cooperative (TEC) mini-grid facility, the minister stated that the government would build the capacity and expertise of technicians to enable the duplication of the TEC mini-grid model across the country. The TEC mini-grid project is a 70kW solar-diesel hybrid plant developed with support from NRECA and USAID.
The Totota Electric Cooperative (TEC) mini-grid facility has a tariff of L$0.48 electricity tariff compared to that from the LEC grid, which cost LS $0.35. The TEC General Manager Aaron B. F. Massaquoi noted that the project, commissioned in 2018, provides electricity to about 20,000 people and 2,302 households in Totota. With daily energy consumption is 550kWh, the TEC has a 96 per cent reliability.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Gesler E. Murray, added that the government seeks to liberalize the electricity sector to increase energy access in the country.