This agreement according to the minister is a way to help salvage the energy needs of the country. He went on that the Karpowership had been given a week test and inspections had been done prompting the government to sign the agreement. The one week test was to test the efficiency of the ship in terms of power generation. The minister revealed further that the initial agreement made by the Koroma led government had been reviewed giving Sierra Leone nine million dollars save per year among other things. The minister stated: “We are pleased to inform you that the committee has successfully renegotiated the Agreement and made the following gains: i. reduced the tariff to 16.4 USc/kwh from the original tariff of US$19.596 USc/kwh negotiated by the former government. This represents an annual savings of approximately US$9 million and is competitive in comparison to similar Karpower projects in Ghana and the Gambia, which have either longer durations and/or larger contracted capacity”. The new government has also reduced the contract duration from five (5) to two (2) years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa commended the energy minister whiles stating that increasing energy access is part of the priorities of the new government.
He said the government is working towards making the energy sector self-funded, adding that the government is committed to provide electricity to at least all district headquarter towns.
