Temperature - European Investment Bank

WEST AFRICAN POWER POOL (WAPP) PÖYRY ENERGY LTD.
Mount Coffee HPP ESIA and RAP 2012-09-18
ESIA Report Page 173
The details of compensation will be described in the RAP. However, it is already
possible to say that resettlement and compensation can be done without any major
problems. Enough land is available in the area surrounding the reservoir for enabling the
local population to continue with their present life style. The RAP will define in detail
the measures to be applied for preventing impoverishment of local HH in the short,
medium and long term.
On the other hand, the project will bring considerable advantages to the project area and
the local population, as e.g.
� improved access through upgrading of existing roads;
� creating jobs, mainly during the construction period;
� general boost of the local economy due to activities related to project
implementation and operation;
� possibility of rural electrification.
Overall, from a socio-economic point of view, the advantages outweigh the negative
impacts.
24.2.1.3 Effects on the Country as a Whole
Liberia is suffering from a severe power shortage. This does not only have a negative
impact on the overall standard of living of the Liberian population, it is also a severe
hindrance of development. Improvement in this respect is urgently needed.
The negative effects of this lack in energy can be seen mostly in three respects, namely:
� Deficiency of grid coverage. Presently, outside of Monrovia and a few small
local grids there is no electricity supply at all. According to LESSP (2012), less
than 12% of the population in Monrovia, and less than 2% of Liberia's rural
population, presently has access to electricity. This, obviously, is a question of
transmission and distribution and cannot be influenced or changed directly and
immediately be Mt. Coffee HPP.
� Insufficient power supply: power cuts are frequent, and overall power supply is
not sufficient. Here, Mt. Coffee will lead to a very considerable improvement of
the situation, provided, of course, that transmission and distribution will be
improved.
� Exorbitant costs for electricity. Presently, power tariffs are very high (reportedly
as high as 0.52 USD per kWh), which puts a very heavy burden on HH budgets
and on the economy of the country as a whole.
In this latter respect, Mt. Coffee will bring a very substantial improvement of the
situation, as illustrated in the following Table.
Table 24-1: Energy generation costs from different sources
Energy source Diesel WAPP 1 Mt. Coffee HPP
USD/kWh 0.32 0.17 0.10
Source: World Bank 2011
1 WAPP interconneiction project making electricty available from Ivory Coast and Guinea