The firm developing it announced on Monday, October 24, that work has begun on Côte d’Ivoire’s first biomass power generation facility, a 46 megawatt (MW) project supported by France’s EDF.
According to Raphael Ruat, managing director of Biovea Energie, the plant would cost over €200 million and should be operational in three years.
EDF, the French company Meridiam, and the agro-industrial corporation SIFCA of Côte d’Ivoire own Biovea. Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund are funding the project.
Two 23MW turbines are part of the project, which will run on around 520,000 tonnes of waste palm oil purchased from farmers in Ayebo, which is located about 100 km east of Abidjan.
According to the partners, the project might increase the annual revenue of close to 12,000 farmers by almost 20%.
“It’s a project that responds to the needs of Ivory Coast, which is facing a growing demand in terms of energy,” said Ruat.
The nation of Côte d’Ivoire now generates 2,369 MW of power, primarily from oil and gas, and it plans to reach 4,000 MW by 2025. Additionally, the nation sells power to a number of its neighbors in West Africa.