By Austine Luseni, Communications Specialist, Ministry of Energy

Sierra Leone’s energy sector became the pick of the bunch, a cynosure of massive investment opportunities and a beacon of hope at the OPEC Fund-PI-CREF High-Level Investment Roundtable organized in Vienna, Austria, with the view to mobilizing and accelerating foreign and green investment opportunities to ensure sustainable energy transition and food security in the country.

Co-chaired by His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio and the President of OPEC Fund, the Investment Roundtable provided a platform to engage investors and international development and financial institutions and policymakers on the investment opportunities in particularly the energy sector in Sierra Leone.

The country’s energy sector stands to benefit from the following pledges and investment opportunities:

(i)The mobilization of investments for innovative and zero-carbon with the goal of increasing renewables in the energy mix to 60%.

(ii)An estimated $40-50 million towards the Bumbuna I Upgrade Project with respect to the installation of two turbines and a 60MW solar plant, scalable to 200 MW estimated at $60-80 million.

(iii)Commitments towards the development of three renewable energy projects-Bumbuna Hydro I, expansion of Dodo/Goma Hydroelectric Power Station and the Moyamba Hydropower plant.

(iv)Commitments to develop a solar PV plant of 50MW connecting BiKongor substation and a $50 million tranche connecting the Kamakwei substation.

These projects would in no small measure positively impact the country’s energy sector.

With the energy sector and the Feed Salone agenda being inextricably linked, reforms continue in the sector.

Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Wednesday, June 26th , 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)