Lighting Up Liberia

Since 2011 LEN has provided over 67,000 Liberians access to off-grid solar power for essential services including health care

Try reading a thermometer in the dark! Providing medical services is not limited to the day light hours which  is why LEN has been involved in providing off-grid solar power for health and maternal child care in Liberia, which has been called the least electrified country in the world, since 2011.

The Liberian government has identified the lack of reliable and affordable electricity as a critical restriction on the country's growth. Energy is key to the post conflict/post Ebola development and maintaining lasting peace in Liberia, evidenced by the fact that one of the largest set of early adopters of off-grid solar power have been health care providers.

With an all Liberian management and staff, for more than seven years LEN has been continuously operating in Liberia, even through the Ebola crisis, as the pioneer of the off-grid solar power market in Liberia. Liberia has one of the lowest electricity access rates in the wold with less than 2% of 4.6 millions connected to the grid. One of the poorest countries in the world, Liberia is severely constrained by an insufficient supply of reliable and affordable electricity. In 2017 , on grid electricity sold in Monrovia had an approved tariff of $0.39/kWh, the highest tariff in Africa. Additionally, the grid is subject to frequent and prolonged interruptions. 

For Liberians living in rural and Peri-urban areas without electricity, LEN closes the last mile in the value chain, providing the 98% of Liberians living off-the-grid with access to power not otherwise available. LEN overcomes the barriers of access by partnering with successful Liberians organization for marketing and distribution. LEN makes access to electricity  affordable with installment plans using payroll checkoffs, PayGo, and Mobile Money technology. Additionally, LEN provides after sales servicing and support for the off-grid solar systems it distributes and installs with trained technicians and its  two electrical engineers currently on staff.

LEN uses a shared value approach to achieve rapid deployment of off-grid solar energy in Liberia.LEN builds its network by identifying, rather then ignoring, what works in Liberian civil society. It bridges the last mile of the distribution chain in partnership with successful institutions and organizations which are already providing basic goods and services to Liberians. LEN seeks to develop  standardized plug and play solar driven power solutions for health care including the basics such as Lighting, cold storage, cooling as well as more advanced applications like medical oxygen generators and medical devices.

  LEN's off-grid solar energy program is the only prospect for Liberias Peri-urban and rural areas to gain access to basic electricity.   LEN does this by importing and distributing off-grid solar LED lighting and  designing and installing larger scale solar power projects.  There is no competing technology to bring large scale access to basic electrical power in rural and Peri-urban Liberia except for off-grid solar. However, for off-grid solar solutions to be widely avaialble, affordable and dependable (including ongoing service and maintenance) they need to be standardized rather than one-off uniquely designed and installed systems.

LEN is working to distribute  7,500 additional off-grid solar units in the next 12 months, with 15 % being deployed to healthcare providers and rural clinics.  Additionally, 10kW total mini-grid installed capacity in up to 5 locations for institutional users, with 75% being healthcare facilities. Our goal is to standardize the systems installed in the healthcare facilities and marry them with solutions such as solar direct drive cold storage, water systems and even air conditioning.

The additional financial resources LEN is seeking to fund scaling, will enable it to distribute 27,000 off-grid connections providing power to over 137,700 Liberians in less than 36 months while achieving sustainability at scale. This scaling will target 15% of the units being deployed for healthcare providers. Additionally, 100kW  total mini-grid installed capacity in up to 20 locations for institutional users, with 50% being healthcare facilities. Standardized direct drive solutions for supporting healthcare facilities will be integrated into the installations.

LEN builds on what works  partnering with  groups which have already build  platforms  LEN can use to over come the critical "last mile" .   LEN partnered with the  Firestone Rubber Plantation rubber tappers union (FAWUL) whose members  live without  electricity in remote compounds on a one million acre plantation to distribute over 6,000 lights.  LEN also partnered with Save The Children, the largest provider of maternal and child health care in rural Liberia,  providing rural healthcare workers with portable solar lanterns and phone chargers, and provided  basic lighting and power to clinics in  five rural upcountry counties.

 As of the end of 2017 13,680 new solar off-grid connections providing 69,768 Liberians access to light and power. The Liberian census places the average Liberian household at 5.1 individuals. LEN assumes each off-grid solar unit provides access to a household.    Health provider beneficiaries include 350  solar lanterns  for Save The Children rural maternal healthcare workers and  150 solar  systems  for clinics; Ministry of Health Ebola response 300 solar lanterns; OXFAM 11 solar  systems for clinics, Liberian Institute of Biomedical Research 20 security perimeter solar lighting systems and  Phebe Hospital 1  solar/diesel hybrid 1kW mini-grid system. 

LEN projects to distribute 7,500 additional units serving 38,250 Liberians in 12 months; 9,500 additional units serving 48,450 Liberians in 24 months and 10,000 additional unit serving 51,000 Liberians in 26 months, which would bring the total Liberians impacted by LEN to 215,093.  The off-grid rural and Peri-urban households LEN seeks to serve, not including the poorly served house holds with access to the limited grid, is 660,000 households. Additionally 100kW of mini-grid installed capacity.

While founded by Richard  Fahey,  a former US Peace Corps volunteer, LEN in Liberia is an entirely Liberian enterprise. Liberians are solving a Liberian problem.  Abubakar K.  Sherif, president of LEN, served 20 years as a community developer in the upcountry regions with the Liberian Ministry of Interior, he managed food aid distribution in Monrovia during the civil wars and has also served as Special Advisor to the Minister of the Interior. LEN has on staff a business manager, accountant, technician and two electrical engineers. LEN has continuously operated in Liberia since 2011, even through the Ebola Crisis.

LEN is a social enterprise selling off-grid solar systems at low margins, but at high volume to generate revenue to sustain and scale. It overcomes Liberia's weak distribution infrastructure by partnering with successful Liberian organizations and institutions to close the last mile in the distribution chain. It overcomes the barriers of weak rule of law and lack of consumer credit by employing payroll check-offs and PayGo and mobile money technology.

To scale LEN needs to raise $1 million in capital: $850,000  to purchase  inventory ; and  $150,000 in upfront operating expense to cover the costs of building out the back room hardware and software platform to support mobile money and PayGo technology needed to give Liberians an installment sales purchase opportunity .While LEN has Liberian engineers on staff they need  assistance in developing a reliable standard off-grid solar module which can be easily deployed and maintained to meet a number of power demands including healthcare at highly reduced cost.

Because Liberia lacks commercial lenders who understand LEN's business model and the off-grid market in general, and because LEN by itself does not have adequate capital to keep up with demand and rapidly build out the market we are looking for partners to help LEN scale while maintaining sustainability.

Off-grid systems for rural  health clinics and hospitals are currently one-off custom built units. There need to be standardized modular units to drive prices down and allow for critical ongoing maintenance and support. LEN is looking for technical assistance to develop a standard modular "plug and play" system for healthcare facilities.