The BEDGIS-SL Project

        Project Background

The development objective of the project is to increase access of national power systems of Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to a more stable and reliable electricity as a means to alleviate power supply deficits and/or to reduce their collective vulnerability to drought induced power supply disruptions. The project will permit the interconnection of “Zone A” and “Zone B” of the WAPP through Côte d’Ivoire, thereby increasing opportunities for trade and the establishment of a regional power market. Thus, the project is expected to facilitate power exchanges among the countries in the West African sub-region.

The total length of CLSG interconnection line is approximately 1,411km and the section in Sierra Leone is 530km. Although the line route is 530km long, the actual area affected by the transmission line project is relatively small. The project will be carried out within a Right of Way (RoW) of 40 m that will span seven districts namely, Pujehun, Kenema, Kono, Tonkolili, Koinadugu, Bombali and Kambia for a distance of about 530km. The transmission line will enter Sierra Leone territory, crossing the Mano and Moa Rivers, through Bombohun, (after Mano on the Liberian border with Sierra Leone) in the Soro Gbema Chiefdom, Pujehun District in the South, follow the existing road network from Potoru, Barri Chiefdom, to enter Kenema Town, the Provincial Headquarter Town in the east of the country. In this section the proposed line route avoids the Gola Forest and other sensitive areas.

The Sierra Leone section of the project comprises the construction of five (5) substations and 530km of 225kV transmission line. The Project, among others, consists of the erection of steel transmission towers along the route. The height of the towers will be such as to provide a minimum of 8.0 meters clearance between the lines and open ground and 8.0 meters clearance for roads and houses. Typically, as with the existing system, the towers will be about 35 ~ 40 meters high.

Five (5) substations are being built each in a small area of 200m x 200m. These are being built on flat well drained land, thus no major topographical changes will occur; the land used will invariably have been used for cultivation. One substation (Kenema substation) will be constructed in Gofor, 2 km to Kenema on the Potoru – Kenema Highway. From Kenema substation, the transmission line continues to the north to enter Bikongor substation in the Nimiyama Chiefdom, Kono District. From Nimiyama Chiefdom it will go through Jaiama Nimikoro and then follow the existing road to Bumbuna, Kalansogoia Chiefdom. One substation (Bikongor substation) will be constructed in Ndoyorgbo 2 km from Jiaima Nimikoro along the existing road to Bumbuna. Another substation (Bumbuna substation) is being constructed in Kabaray, 2 km to Bumbuna Town. From Bumbuna Town (Town of the Bumbuna Hydroelectric Plant), the line will enter Fadugu, Kasunko Chiefdom. Another substation (Yiben subsation) will be constructed at Kathadougbu Road, 1 km east of Fadugu. From Fadugu, the line will continue to enter Kamakwei, Sella Limba Chiefdom. In Sella Limba Chiefdom, another substation (Kamakwei substation) will be constructed 4 km from Kamakwei in a town called Kathirie, and the line detours the Outamba-Kilimni National Park to the south and crosses the Great Scarcies River to enter Guinea territory.

To meet environmental sustainability compliance requirements, TRANSCO CLSG contracted Integrated Geo-information and Environmental Management Services (INTEGEMS) to undertake consulting services for the Establishment of a Baseline Database of the Environmental Component of the CLSG Project Area in Sierra Leone.

The establishment of the baseline database for the environmental component (BDEC) of the CLSG Project area in Sierra Leone covers specifically water quality of the specified watercourse crossed by the corridor of the transmission line, the preliminary characterization of the soils, vegetation and wildlife of the Project area, the air quality and noise level of the settlements of the Project area. The establishment of the BDEC included activities in various areas ranging from data collection, storage, analysis, mapping and processing to the dissemination of information in form of hardcopy and electronic documents, services and reports to support TRANSCO CLSG in its mission to streamline baseline environmental data-flows and provide accurate, reliable and timely baseline environmental data and information to policy-makers and the public. The Project took into account all environmental information in Sierra Leone to help streamline baseline data-flows, assist TRANSCO CLSG to meet its reporting obligations and comply with national and international treaties/conventions and standards.

        Objective

The overall objective of the Project is to assist TRANSCO CLSG in developing a baseline database of the water quality of the watercourses crossed by the corridor of the transmission line, the preliminary characterization of the soils, vegetation and wildlife of the project area, and the air quality and noise level of the cities/towns of the Project area.

        Scope of Work

INTEGEMS worked under the guidance and supervision of the TRANSCO CLSG Project Implementation Unit (PIU) through the Project Manager, the Environmental Coordinator and the National Environmental Assistant, in order to analyse the quality of the specified watercourses crossed by the transmission line, measure air pollutants and carry out environmental noise level measurement in residential and commercial areas within the specified Project towns and interpret the results, and to preliminarily characterize the soils, flora and fauna of the Project area.