Rural Energy Strategy and Master Plan for Liberia until 2030.

This Rural Energy Strategy and Master Plan (RESMP) is a nationwide sectoral document that responds to the President's call for Small Light Today, Big Light Tomorrow. The broad goals of the Strategy are (i) ensuring enhanced energy access with equity, sustainable development, and optimal use of indigenous and renewable resources that are integrated into the National Energy Master Plan; (ii) increasing energy access and renewable energies to the rural areas and population, meaning all areas and population outside of greater Monrovia; (iii) identifying least-cost projects and technologies; (iv) proposing concrete investments for funding and implementation, with appropriate institutional framework and capacity. The RESMP also represents the intention of the Government of Liberia to provide the necessary infrastructure to enable the national development and to contribute to the improvement of life for all Liberians.
The Strategy sets out the following objectives until 2030 for a decentralized and equitable transition to the “large grid” long-term vision (i) electrification rate for the population outside of Monrovia of 10% in 2020, 20% in 2025, and 35% in 2030, electrifying the major cities and towns first; (ii) all county capitals, health facility, and secondary schools electrified already before 2025; (iii) 10 biggest settlements in each county to be electrified by 2030 with minimum electrification of 15% per county; (iv) more than 75% of all electricity generated from renewables by 2030; (v) universal access to affordable solar lamps, efficient appliances, and cook stoves; (vi) cooking gas available in all county capitals and efficiently produced charcoal widespread across the country. The envisaged objectives shall be achieved based on the following key Policies and Principles (1) least cost development to guarantee universal access, taking account of the economic, financial, social, and environmental factors and the poor's special needs using targeted and transparent subsidies. This means that all locations, people, businesses, and services shall be electrified using the technology that minimizes the cost of service to that particular location, person, or business; (2) equity across regions, social classes, and genders while balancing efficiency in allocating available resources. However, resources are limited and the Master Plan has to decide who to electrify first and with which level of service or support, considering also that some precedent investments may be required to electrify a given area. The Master Plan is formulated based on well-defined project selection and prioritization criteria which consider first equity but also efficiency; (3) priority to the electrification of community services and health facilities, and only after households and businesses; (4) use of indigenous and renewable resources in a sustainable way, avoiding dependence on solutions with very high running costs, such as importing oil or other fuels. Sustainability means, among other things, that the utilization of biomass or other sources of renewable energy does not contribute to deforestation or food insecurity; (5) facilitating private sector investment; (6) transparent and independent regulatory process to ensure safe, secure, reliable, and sustainable power at a cost-reflective but affordable price; (7) promoting regional cooperation. Liberia is a member of the Economic Community of West African States. The Strategy aims to promote the participation of the key actors in the regional market to enhance international trade of electricity and to maximize opportunities for cost reduction, investment, and cross-border electrification; (8) Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Energy for All. The Millennium Development Goals have been updated with the Sustainable Development Goals which incorporate the Sustainable Energy for All initiative and goals of universal energy access, doubling of renewable energy, and energy efficiency.