Sierra Leone
SLESierra Leone has about as many people as Israel, and 355 times less electricity to share between them.
8.6 million people against 9.5 million, but 24 kWh per person a year against 8,627.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Among the cleanest electricity anywhere.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Sierra Leone generates almost exactly what it uses, with next to nothing crossing its borders.
What this means
Electricity can be sold across a border like anything else, through high-voltage lines connecting one country's grid to the next. Buying it in means leaning on a neighbour to keep the lights on. Selling it means generating more than the country needs.
Also true of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
133 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour in 2014, 48 in 2024.
Sierra Leone is close to the bottom in Africa for electricity used per person.
24 kWh per person per year, 51th of 53.
Hydro overtook oil on Sierra Leone's grid in 2010.
Today hydro supplies 86% and oil 5%.
Sierra Leone’s neighbours
LiberiaHydro overtook oil on Liberia's grid in 2023.
GuineaGuinea has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
SenegalSenegal has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
GambiaThe Gambia is second in the world for oil.
Cote d'IvoireCote d'Ivoire has about as many people as Saudi Arabia, and 40 times less electricity to share between them.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Sierra Leone. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.