NPA to light Lungi next month
The General Manager of the National Power Authority (NPA) Dr. Ahmed Zubiaru Kalokoh, has informed this paper that the people of Lungi and its environs will enjoy electricity by the of March this year.
In an exclusive interview with this paper yesterday, he frowned at some Sierra Leoneans who misled the general public last year that they only tried to impress President Ernest Bai Koroma in Lungi by giving light to the township while the was passing through Lungi on an official matter and have blackout after he had left.
He explained that the truth was that they were on a testing mission and had to put off the generator to do more work.
He also revealed that 25,000 prepaid meters will arrive next week to save the people of Sierra Leone.
Dr. Kalokoh also stated that hydro electric power is a major energy source holding great promise for Sierra Leone as the country has a lot of rivers that could be exploited for electricity. He further revealed that according to the Power Sector Master Plan (1996), twenty seven potential hydropower sites with a total capacity of 1,513 Megawatts have been identified nationwide.
Dr. Kalokoh also explained that biomass is the main source of energy in use in households in Sierra Leone, mainly in the form of fuel wood and charcoal, while the use of agricultural crop residues remain limited.
He underscored that biomass for electricity generation would come from such residues, existing forests and deforested or otherwise degraded lands on which “energy plantations” can be cultivated.
Dr. Kalokoh also stated that the country experiences sunshine for most parts of the year and hence solar energy is in abundance. He disclosed that a more recent study estimated the average solar radiation at 1460 to 1800 kWh which indicates the huge potential for solar power in the country.
He also stated that a review of the energy sector in Sierra Leone reveals that poor efficiency plagues almost every energy sub-section. He maintained that the statistics are staggering: for instance, over forty five percent of the electricity generated in the Western Area remains unaccounted for while traditional methods of firewood and charcoal have efficiencies below thirty percent. He explained that low efficiencies mean an unnecessary waste that could be ill afforded in a country in which energy supplies are well below the supposed demand.
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