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From left: Gordon Ullyett, Project Manager | Kristin Gjevik, Multiconsult UK | HRH Crown Prince Haakon | Mayooran Parameshwaran, Multiconsult UK | Bjarne Børresen, Multiconsult | Doblade Elliott

HRH Crown Prince Haakon visited Mount Coffee

On the 5th April, the Mount Coffee Hydro Power Plant received a royal visit from the Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

5. April 2017

Crown Prince Haakon serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with a particular focus on the UN Millennium Development Goals. One of the goals is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for all. Mount Coffee is the key facility to achieve this goal in Liberia, and the project is part financed by the Norwegian Government.

Our colleague, Kristin Gjevik (Multiconsult UK), guided His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon around the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant.

The Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant was reopened 15th December 2016, and is Liberia’s single largest power source. The facility delivers clean and sustainable energy and contributes significantly towards rebuilding a country that has faced incredible pressures in recent history. We are proud contributors to the project’s remarkable success”, says Helge E. Jenssen, Senior Vice President Energy.

The Rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project

The original Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant was constructed over a four year period and began generation in 1967. The plant is located approximately 25 km north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia. It operated successfully for twenty-three years until 1990 when, during the first of two civil wars, the dam was overtopped and eventually breached over a length of approximately 180 m. The powerhouse, which housed four Francis turbines with a total installed capacity of 64 MW at the time, was flooded and later stripped of all its mechanical and electrical equipment. The output of the new units is substantially upgraded to 22 MW each. The project adopted a fast track approach, but progress halted in 2014 due to the emergence of an unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Norplan-Fichtner Joint Venture (NFJV) is assigned the role as the Owner’s Engineer for the project. Multiconsult ASA, who has been working in the hydropower field for more than 100 years, had formerly carried out its international work within the renewable energy sector under the brand name Norplan.