South Sudan to complete electricity grid by March 2020

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 20 January 2020:

South Sudan’s ministry of energy and dams is currently working on the rollout of public/private partnerships to bring power to regional cities after success of its Juba grid project.

$289 million has been invested in a power plant run by Ezra Power that will provide 100 megawatts when fully completed. The plant is already active. The government is providing 100 kW of free power to all users to help low income residents of Juba.

The city grid became operational in 2019 and all homes and businesses will have access to power by March 2020, said Minister of Energy and Dams, Hon. Dr. Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol last Thursday.

Ezra has invested $289 million in a thermal and solar power plant that will add 100 megawatts to the grid when fully completed. A new city grid has been constructed alongside the power generation plant.

“Electricity is a basic need and electricity is the engine of development. If you look into the criteria used to start a development, you will see that electricity is at the top. If we aspire to be like other developing countries, we need to help generate electricity,” said the Minister of Energy and Dams.

The ministry has acknowledged the high tariff price of the new power system and is working on reducing it as a priority. The first 100 kW of power is free, to help low income residents.

Former Undersecretary and new Technical Advisor – Lawrence Loku Moyu noted that the government had plans to expand the country’s grid networks, “but these network expansions need human resources to develop; we need engineers, technicians, to bring these expansions to South Sudan.”

Moyu further highlighted that since gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan has not yet obtained feasibility studies done by the Khartoum government on the power sector. Purchasing these studies and implementing their recommendations is a strategic objective for the ministry.

“The new engineers that we are recruiting will have to study this program from the beginning. Getting these studies and implementing their recommendations is now a priority for us,” he concluded.