National Energy Policy. An Agenda for Action and Economic and Social Development.

This document contains the National Energy Policy for Liberia (NEP), whose objective is to ensure universal access to modern energy services in an affordable, sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner in order to foster the economic, political, and social development of the country. The NEP assumes the implementation of proposed energy sector reforms founded on three essential features: (1) demonstrating the Government’s resolve for good governance and ensuring financial transparency in all sector transactions; (2) overcoming the significant obstacles to private sector investment in energy supply; and (3) creating the requisite institutional and legal framework and an independent regulatory regime.
The NEP addresses strategic issues that are implied in the principal policy objective – access, quality, cost and institutional framework. These issues refer to the need for the various technologies and delivery options for energy products and services to be available, acceptable, affordable and adequate.
The policy sets out objectives and outlines actions to be undertaken for the electricity sector reform and the petroleum sector reform. Further it lays down principles and objectives dealing with the rural and renewable energy development. The aim is to facilitate and accelerate the economic transformation of rural Liberia by establishing a semi-autonomous agency dedicated to the commercial development and supply of modern energy services to rural areas, with an emphasis on locally available renewable resources. It is the policy of the Government to ensure that the use of biomass and other renewable resources of energy does not contribute to deforestation or to food insecurity and will on the contrary adopt appropriate environmental and agricultural support strategies such as tree-replanting programmes and limiting biofuel production to non-edible plants or food crops that are surplus to requirements.
Regarding the institutional framework, the policy objective is to establish an adequate delivery process for energy products and services through a public and private partnership where investment in new infrastructure and services is provided by the private sector to the greatest extent possible, with the public sector providing the supporting policy environment as well as regulatory oversight. The NEP provides for the creation of the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency and the REFUND (Rural Energy Fund).