Kingtom Power Generator Comes Back To Life after Five Years of Neglect
Monday, 10 February 2024:- When His Excellency President Bio convened the first ever Energy Sector Retreat last December at Tokeh Village, it was evident there was a new Sheriff in town. President Bio, as Minister of Energy, is leading from the front to tackle Sierra Leone’s longstanding load shedding problems.
As part of the outcomes of the sector retreat, President Bio was clear in his instructions – “Blackhall Road and Kingtom sub-stations must be fixed to alleviate the problems the country face with lack of adequate electricity.”
Following President Bio’s directives, staff from EGTC, EDSA among others witnessed the switching on of the Kingtom Power generator after 5 years of no operation (for lack of maintenance) as Energy Sector Lead and Chairman of the Energy Governance Coordination Group (EGCG) Yumkella inspects the facility on behalf of President Bio.
Following the press briefing held at the Ministry of Information in which Hon. Yumkella shared with the nation the short, medium and long-term plans of the sector, today, Hon. Yumkella’s visit to Kingtom sub-station was to see the operation of the Negatta generators in operation after years of neglect. With support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and funding from the Ministry of Finance the generators have come on line.*
He noted that President Bio has approved the needed funds for the repairs and the Ministry of Finance has acted on the President’s instructions. “The purchase of accessories has been made and we are only waiting now for the spare parts to arrive for work to begin on the Blackhall Road Wartsila generators,” he said.
Hon. Yumkella reiterated President Bio’s vision for the sector and what the President is doing and the efforts he is putting to ensure sustainable solutions are made available to solve the country’s electricity challenges. He mentioned the President recent mission to Tanzania and Sierra Leone’s inclusion in the second cohort of countries for the Mission 300 programme among others.
The short-term goal as demanded by President Bio was the complete repair of Kingtom and Blackhall Road sub-stations. The repair of Kingtom alone will generate about 10 MW. Currently, with only one machine running, Kingtom generates 4.5 MW. Hon. Yumkella’s visit was also for verification purposes. If Blackhall Road sub-station is repaired, the country could benefit from an additional 16 MW with a total of 25-26 MW. With all the other work going on, it is possible the generation capacity for Freetown alone could double between now and January 2026.
Hon. Yumkella was accompanied by Hon. Alpha Kanu, Deputy Minister Edmond Nonie, EGTC Board Chairman, EDSA Chief Operating Officer Tesman Egbe and team as well as PI-CREF staff. EGTC Director-General, Milton Gegbai and staff hosted their visiting sector colleagues.