Liberia’s largest energy source, the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant, has been approved as a project under the Global Carbon Council (GCC) Voluntary Carbon Market program, aiming to reduce 120,600 tons of carbon emissions per year.
The deal, which was approved by the GCC on June 16, 2025, was submitted on July 7, 2025, by the Liberia Electricity Corporation as a legal owner,Aera Group, and Hydro Operation International SA, a Swiss-based, privately owned company, as co-owners.
The Crediting period runs from November 12, 2016, to December 10, 2026. Hydro Operation International SA, now one of the project’s owners, was contracted for a five-year period during the hydropower plant rehabilitation in 2012 to operate and maintain the power plant, and to train the Liberian staff to take over at the end of 2017.
In an email, LEC’s Deputy Managing Director of Operations, Thomas Gonkerwon, said that the hydropower plant registration was a standard compliance requirement for all hydropower facilities before operation to ensure that the project aligns with international environmental and sustainability standards.
“We would like to let you know that while the plant has been registered, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is not currently engaged in any carbon trading arrangements under this registration.”
In spite of Gonkerwon’s response, in an email, Anam Mirza, GCC’s Communications Officer, said the Mount Coffee Hydropower project was successfully registered in the GCC program under the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) mechanism on 16th June 2025. “The project is now registered; therefore, all the requirements have been fulfilled.”
VCM is a decentralized system where individuals, companies, and organizations voluntarily buy and sell carbon credits to offset their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without the approval of a national government or legislation. Unlike compliance markets, which are regulated by governments, the VCM operates outside of mandatory legal frameworks.
Hydropower plays a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for electricity generation compared to fossil fuel-based power plants like thermal plants and diesel generators. The most significant way hydropower reduces emissions is by not burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) to generate electricity. Traditional thermal power plants release large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) into the atmosphere during combustion. Hydropower uses the force of moving water to spin turbines, producing electricity without direct combustion.
The hydropower is key as Liberia prepares to enter the carbon market. As the largest source of power in the country, leveraging the plant would boost its carbon potential, every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated by hydropower displaces a kWh that would otherwise likely come from a fossil fuel plant. This directly avoids the associated GHG emissions. It is estimated that using hydropower instead of fossil fuels has helped avoid over 100 billion tonnes of CO2 in the past 50 years.
With a total Cost of US$357 million, the rehabilitation of the hydropower plant was funded by the Liberian government, the Norwegian government, the European Investment Bank, the German development bank KfW, and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation to reduce the low power supply and promote high-quality energy in Liberia. The hydropower plant remained the biggest power source in Liberia with an installed capacity of 88 megawatt, with 60 MW fully functional, followed by the thermal plant, which uses diesel and the remainder from power imports and other sources.
Mirza said that while the absence of carbon legislation in a country does not affect a project’s eligibility under the VCM, such projects can still participate in VCMs. However, in line with GCC’s requirements, GHG emission reduction project (Mount Coffee Hydropower project) compliance with applicable national laws, regulations, and policies is comprehensively assessed — particularly through the legal requirement test (i.e. the project implementation is not mandated by the law and is completely voluntary) and by ensuring environmental and social safeguards under local regulations.
The GCC projects are approved by both the United Nations Agency— International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), supporting climate action at a global scale. For projects registered under the GCC seeking eligibility under CORSIA or Article 6.2 mechanisms, host country readiness is essential, including the presence of necessary infrastructure for the issuance of a Host Country Letter of Authorization.
Dr. Emmanual Urey Yarkpawolo, EPA’s Executive Director, said few months ago, he received an email from one of the co-owners of the project asking for a Letter of Authorization, “and after presentation from them they sent email to me that they wanted a letter of authorization from the EPA for the credit to be registered and approved.”
“My direct question to them was, who owns this credit? They struggled to answer it. Whether it’s for LEC, it, or for them, they struggled to answer it. We are just developing the policy to determine the ownership of carbon benefits sharing. Without this policy in place, we can’t have a carbon market.”
Both LEC’s Deputy Managing Director of Operations, Gonkerwon, and Alexandre Dunod, Aera Group, Director of Operations, who is listed as the focus person for the Mount Coffee Hydropower project, did not answer questions sent to them through emails on the project’s income, cost, and financial benefits, and how funds from the project would be shared among the three owners.
The GCC is an international carbon credit developmentprogram based in the Global South that issues tradable credits to registered projects that have demonstrated their additionality and will achieve the reduction/removal of GHG emissions. These emissions can be traded by the project owners to raise finance to support projects that mitigate climate change.
Under the GCC, projects are eligible for the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). However, the host country must demonstrate and show that it is in readiness, including the presence of necessary infrastructure for the issuance of a Host Country Letter of Authorization (LoA).
LoA is an official letter from the government of the country where the carbon project is located (the “host country”) authorizing that specific project to generate carbon credits and, declaring how those credits will be accounted for concerning the host country’s national climate targets outlined in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
The GCC has achieved full approval from ICAO to supply CORSIA Eligible Emission Units (EEUs) for both the 2021-2023 compliance period (pilot phase) and the 2024-2026 compliance period (first phase). Approved Carbon Credits (ACCs) issued by GCC can be used by international airlines to meet their offsetting obligations under CORSIA.
“C+” Label: GCC projects can receive a“C+” label, indicating their eligibility for CORSIA purposes.
Despite the EPA Executive Director’s refusal to grant the project owners an LoA, the project was granted CORSIA status label (C+)-Pilot Phase by GCC.
