By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Sierra Leone has validated the Environment Impact Assessment Guideline for Renewable Energy and Mini Grid Technologies in the country.
Beran Foster, Assistant Director for Planning at the EPASL, explained that the aim of the guideline is to reduce regulation and cost of acquiring and renewing environmental permits for renewable energy and mini-grid projects, in line with the environment and social impact of such projects. He noted that the primary objective of the document was to provide information on the project developers and consultants on the license and acquisition process, lower renewal fees and reduce need for consultants, provide minimum environmental standards for smallest projects and standard scoping and Environmental Management Plans.
The validation exercise held at the Civil Service Training College Tower Hill on Friday 7th February attracted various stakeholders in the energy sector, including Members of Parliament.
Edward George, Member of Parliament for Constituency 97 in Moyamba District, who doubles as a Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Lands and the Environment, noted that the workshop was “very important for the socio economic development of Sierra Leone, especially our brothers and sisters in the rural areas as without energy there can be no development."
He added that renewable energy projects offered a solution for the current energy crisis in Sierra Leone by allowing the provision of energy to rural and underserved communities without the cost of extending the main grid connection and the significant environmental and health impacts associated with conventional thermal electricity generation.
Alex Kandeh Thomas, Lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), said: "current policy of the Environment Protection Agency is to create specific Environmental and Social Impact Assessment guideline and Environment Impact assessment fee regulations for distinct sectors to ensure that they are regulated on their merits in terms of their potential positive and negative impacts to society and the environment and not simply by the generalized regulatory framework in the 2008 and 2010 regulations".
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