The hospital in Buchanan is now supplied with electricity via a solar photovoltaic system. The installation was recently commissioned by the company Eco-Power. The small solar power plant consists of 150 solar panels with a capacity of 24 kWp. The modules are linked together by solar inverters and connected to a battery storage system (63) to provide the hospital with electricity after sunset. Eco-Power, which will maintain the installation for one year, estimates that the small solar power plant could operate for 20 years “if the equipment is well maintained”.
The solar system should enable Buchanan hospital to secure its electricity supply. “The installation of the solar panels will significantly reduce the hospital’s expenses, especially in terms of fuel purchases,” says Dr Abraham Jawara, the hospital’s medical director. It is a very important public health unit, serving patients in River Cess and Sinoe counties. The optimization of its operation should make it possible to better manage the health crisis caused by Covid-19, which also affects Liberia with 133 confirmed cases.
The installation of the solar system at Buchanan Hospital is part of the Liberia Solar for Health project, a joint initiative of the Liberian government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The aim of the project is to increase access to health services for vulnerable populations, reduce carbon emissions in a Liberian context of addressing climate change issues and improve the overall power supply to health facilities.
Under the Liberia Solar for Health project, 12 hospitals across the country will be equipped with solar systems. For example, in March 2020, the government, UNDP and Eco-Power inaugurated a small 3 kWp photovoltaic solar power plant at the Sinje Health Center in Grand Cape Mount County.
Jean Marie Takouleu