Power for All Brainstorms On Energy Revolution For Salone
Amie Dumbuya Campaign Director PfA |
In a bid to address the energy situation in Sierra Leone,
Power for All and the Government of Sierra Leone have ended a day’s workshop to
communicate the compact and energy revolution targets as well as design and
implement a streamlined product and company registration process.
By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
The event which took place yesterday at the New
Brookfield’s hotels in Freetown brought different stakeholders in the energy
sectors.
In her opening address, Power for All Sierra Leone
Campaign Director Amie Dumbuya explained that the Sierra Leone Energy
Revolution came into being when the United Kingdom Minister Nick Hurd and
Sierra Leone President Koroma signed the agreement on 10th May 2016
for.
“The singing has set the stage for off-grid solutions and
specifically household and business solar installations to take in real way,
both governments made commitments in the compact to realize this vision,” she
said.
According to Madam Dumbuya, the Energy Revolution aims to
attract decentralized solar enterprises and investors to Sierra Leone to meet
ambitious energy access targets: Distribute 50,000 solar units by the end of
2016, Distribute 250,000 solar units by the end of 2017 and Extend basic power
supply to all people in Sierra Leone within 9 years (Power for All).
As an implementing partner of the energy Africa Compact,
Power for All has set up a task force comprising of key stakeholders to meet
these targets. The task force includes: The Ministry of Energy, The UK
Department for International Development (DfID), The Renewable Energy
Association (REASL), The Sierra Leone Investment Export Promotion Agency
(SLIPA), The Sierra Leone Opportunities For Business Action (SOBA), The Office
of the President, and The Presidential Delivery Unit.
She explained that the task force is in the process of
designing and implementing a program to catalyze the decentralized solar
market. The program she added will address issues such as, barriers to entry
for the private sector, unlocking finance, and talent development.
Sierra Leone Minister of Energy Ambassador Henry Macaulay
welcomes the initiative. He said the President Koroma is so pleased with such
development as the end result is for the people to have better services.
“We should be proud to have you with us as government.
The President has his target for this year and next year. The President can’t change his target and the President’s target is not born out of his own desires but
a desire to save his people.
He disclosed that, President Koroma will review the
progress of the Energy Revolution 100 days after its launch.
“In advance of this date on the 18th August,
the Task Force has been working to establish strong foundations for action. A
presentation on progress made and challenges encountered thus far will be made
to the President in anticipation for his assistance to further move the
implementation process faster,” he said.
The minister compared
electricity just like Ebola.
“If you don’t do anything,
darkness will engulf you, because the number of consumers increase every day for energy.”
He encouraged Power for All to work with the Bare Foot Women
as they have been doing solar energy installation long before now.
Madam Dumbuya went on to say that Power for All is a
global campaign to accelerate the market-based growth of decentralized
renewable energy. The campaign she stated serves as a collective voice for
business and civil society organizations focused on “beyond-the-grid” renewable
solutions, including decentralized solar, hydro, biomass and wind designed for households
and business. Power For All aims to drive the policy, regulatory and financial
environment needed for the sector to scale at speed, in order to rapidly
increase the pace of energy access.
Electricity is fundamental to human and economic
development, yet in Sierra Leone, 9 percent of the rural population is
unelectrified and in urban areas thousands lack power. Although energy access
is an imperative, business-as-usual grid expansion is extremely costly and
progress is slow. With renewable, distributed energy, we can leapfrog the
traditional grid-centric approach and deliver energy access in half the time,
at a fraction of the cost.
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