WB invites TRANSCO CLSG to high-level workshop in Liberia

The World Bank, in collaboration with the West African Power Pool (WAPP), is holding a two-day high-level workshop on Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Transmission Service Agreements (TSA) contracts for the supply and transportation of electricity for the countries participating in the CLSG Regional Power interconnection project. The workshop will be held in Monrovia, Liberia on Friday, July 5th and Saturday, July 6, 2019.

The Bank, which is a major financier of the CLSG interconnection project has invited the Management of TRANSCO CLSG to the workshop, which is part of the World Bank and WAPP’s support for the development of an efficient regional energy trade in West Africa. The workshop targets the evolution of the electricity sector in the West African sub region.

As the CLSG countries and TRANSCO CLSG are getting set to start trading electricity early next year, the World Bank believes that exchanging of knowledge and of best practices on doing PPAs and TSAs in the context of the WAPP could enrich the framework of reference for the countries soon to engage into exchanges of electricity through the CLSG transmission line.

The upcoming commissioning of the electrical interconnection between Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) is a turning point for national sectoral policies of the countries involved, and to ensure reliable electricity at the lowest cost. This forms an important link of the regional electricity market under WAPP.

Among the key workshop objectives include, placing the CLSG in a broader regional integration context of energy markets in West Africa; sharing recent cases and lessons learned on trade from other markets or regional power pools; and with this feedback, identifying basic elements of proper contracts that will promote sustainable and efficient trade in the regional market of West Africa.

The World Bank says given the nature of the workshop, it counts on the participation of TRANSCO CLSG executives and experts in the technical, financial and procurement aspects, which are key elements for the formulation of these contracts for electricity trading and the future use of the CLSG lines.

The first session of the workshop will present the CLSG project in the broader context of the WAPP regional energy market. Subsequently, the workshop will focus on the various technical, financial and legal aspects, that constitute the basis of these contracts. “We hope that this will result in useful exchanges, which could enrich the framework of references for the actual trade of electricity that will take place once the CLSG enters in operation,” the World Bank says.