- Sierra Leone USIDFC sign debt finance agreement
- USIDFC to finance the construction of a hydroelectric plant
- Plant to add 83MW to grid
The Sierra Leonian government and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) have signed a $217 million debt finance agreement to construct an 83MW hydroelectric power plant in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The project is sponsored by Milele Power Limited and TCQ Power Limited.
Speaking on the project, Chief Operating Officer, USIDFC, David Marchick said, ”DFC’s investment will substantially increase access to energy for people all across Sierra Leone, providing power generation to meet approximately 24 per cent of projected electricity demand in a country where only 15 per cent of the population has reliable access to power,”
The United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone, David Reimer, said: ”This plant will increase Sierra Leone’s generation capacity significantly. The power generated will make substantial improvements in the lives and livelihoods of Sierra Leoneans – allowing households to access power for the first time, students to study at night and health workers to save more lives.”
The Chief Executive Officer, TCQ Power Limited, CEO Karim Nasser, stated, ”the project is a monumental step for the country and will unlock opportunities for all; it also demonstrates the government’s ability to draw private investment into complex infrastructure projects. All this would not have been possible without the government’s implementation of bold and decisive reforms to make the energy sector bankable and our lender’s creativity in finding solutions that helped the project become more bankable.”
Also speaking on the project, CEO Milele Energy Erik Granskog said, ”With the signing of the commitment letter, we have moved one step closer to delivering critical and reliable electricity to the people of Sierra Leone,”
The project is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2024.