A team from the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC) led by the Director General on Friday 5th November, 2021 embarked on an inspection visit to the new 225 kV substation facility at Kenema, which is part of the Cote d’ Ivoire – Liberia – Sierra Leone – Guinea (CLSG) transmission line. The objective of the visit was to get acquainted with the developments made on the CLSG network so far and to get first-hand view of the new facilities.
The Director General of the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission, Dr. Emmanuel Mannah, enquired from the Substation Control Operator, Ing. Abraham Soukana, about how the new substation facility operates and the role it will have in improving access to electricity in the country.
In his response, Ing. Abraham Soukana, stated that the 225 kV substation at Kenema is all set and ready for the sequential energization of the 225 kV CLSG transmission line and the other substations along the route from Man Cote d’Ivoire onto Kenema. He noted the substation is only awaiting the finalization of the agreements by the Government of Sierra Leone for it to be switched into action. He assured the EWRC delegation that the CLSG team will ensure reliable and sustainable power availability in both Kenema and Bo when the substation starts its full operation.
Ing. Abraham Soukana further informed the team that there was a three-week testing process to ensure that all the equipment and components of the 225/66/33 kV substation are in correct operational order. He added that the transmission line linking the Kenema substation with that of the Mano substation in Liberia was completed and ready to transmit much needed electricity as soon as the project is finalized. Furthermore, he mentioned that Transco CLSG has completed the testing and energization of the Mano substation in Liberia.
A guided tour of the 225 kV Kenema substation was then given to the delegation by Ing. Soukana. The team was able to access the Substation Control Room, view the control panels of the 225/66kV bay, the control panel of the transmission line from the Mano substation, the control panel of the 225/66 kV transformer, the control panel of the 225/33 kV transformer, metering facilities for the incoming and outgoing lines and the control panel of the communication unit that interconnects the various substations along the route via fiber-optic cables. A simple demonstration of the operation of the substations’ SCADA system was also done.
The TRANSCO CLSG, a regional Transmission Company (RTC) set up under the West African Power Poll (WAPP) by an International Treaty signed and ratified among Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, has been given the mandate to finance, construct, own, operate and further develop the CLSG interconnection power transmission line with the aim of establishing a regional electricity market in West Africa
through the appropriate development and implementation of key infrastructures, so that all ECOWAS Member States are given access to economically viable energy resources.
The CLSG facilities are meant to provide reliable and affordable energy from a regional resource base to meet the rising demand created by activities geared at transforming the economies of the ECOWAS Member States.
The CLSG Project is a Multinational Investment Operation and is financed by four funding agencies, namely the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the KfW and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
