World Bank grants USD 311m for renewables in West Africa

The World Bank will provide USD 311 million (EUR 292.48m) to support renewable energy projects in Togo, Liberia, Chad and Sierra Leone with the aim of expanding grid-connected capacity in the four countries and enhancing power trade between them.

The financing will be granted for the new Regional Emergency Solar Power Intervention Project (RESPITE) under the International Development Association fund which provides grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects to boost economic growth and reduce poverty.

The resources will be used to deploy and operate about 106 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity combined with batteries and a 41-MW expansion of hydroelectric capacity as well as to support electricity distribution and transmission interventions across the four countries, the World Bank said this week.

With RESPITE, the World Bank aims to mitigate the effect of the energy crisis in West Africa through the deployment of more renewable energy in the region where electrification rates are low and electricity costs are very high.

The package includes a USD-20 million grant to support the future regional power trade and strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP), a cooperation of the national electricity companies in Western Africa.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.940)

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