Description

Sierra Leone finished 44th in Climatescope 2014, with a score of 0.76. The West African nation was strongest on Clean Energy Investment Parameter II, thanks largely to the financing of the Addax bioenergy project in 2011, but weak on Low Carbon Business Parameter III and Greenhouse Gas Management Activities Parameter IV.

At the end of 2013, it had total power capacity of 182MW, made up of small hydro and diesel power plants. Around half of this comprises captive thermal generation at the country’s mines. In May 2014, the Addax biomass plant was commissioned, adding a further 15MW to the mix. Transmission and distribution infrastructure is very poor resulting in power losses of around 45%. A law passed in 2011 to start unbundling the power sector – currently the domain of the state-run national utility – has yet to be implemented.

The government set a target to achieve 35% access to electricity by 2015, but this will be missed given that the electrification rate stood at less than 10% in 2013. There are no policies encouraging investment in energy, clean or otherwise.