The Bumbuna II 143 MW planned hydropower project on the Upper Seli River in northeast Sierra Leone involves building an extension to the existing 50 MW Bumbuna I facility and the construction of a new upstream storage reservoir and power plant at Yiben. This project will be developed, operated, and maintained by Seli Hydropower Limited (SHPL). SHPL is a joint venture between Joule Africa, a renewable energy IPP based in the United Kingdom, and Energy Services Company (ESCO), based in Sierra Leone. As the project is likely to impact the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), the project reached out to the ARRC Task Force and signed an MoU in 2022. After our emails asking for updates bounced back in 2023, we discontinued the engagement.
