Inauguration Mount Coffee HPP

December 15, 2016, the Rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project achieves its major milestone with first generating unit in operation. This milestone has been the key driver for the execution of the project.

13. December 2016

Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, will conduct an inauguration ceremony celebrating this remarkable achievement on December 15. Helge E. Jenssen (Senior Vice President Energy), Ove Rusten (Vice President Projects – Energy) and Bente T. Brunes (Elmech team leader – Home Office) look forward to travel to Liberia to attend the ceremony together with the Multiconsult team at the Mount Coffee construction site.

“The Mt. Coffee Hydropower Plant will become Liberia’s single largest power source. The facility will deliver clean and sustainable energy and will contribute 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 Mt. 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.

“This project is one of the important pillars enabling Multiconsult to achieve the 3-2-1GO strategy for international renewable energy. The project has from the start focused on transferring knowledge from senior to junior and enabled junior personnel to gain valuable international experience”, says Ove Rusten, Multiconsult Vice President Projects – Energy.