Ivory Coast studies first cocoa-fired power station

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Abidjan – a city on the southern Atlantic coast of Cote d’Ivoire – wants to build the world's first biomass power station fired by cocoa production waste, Cote d’Ivoire and US officials said Monday.

If the 235-million-euro (273-million-US dollar) scheme gets the go-ahead, Cote d’Ivoire, the world's top cocoa grower, could go on to construct nine more power stations burning cocoa waste.

The first plant could be up and running in 2023, said Yapi Ogou, the head of the Société des énergies nouvelles (SODEN or New Energies Company) which is in charge of the project.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has financed one million dollars for feasibility studies which should be completed by next April.

Cote d’Ivoire's cocoa production waste amounts to 26 million tonnes, mainly pods from which the beans have been extracted, Ogou said.

The plant would be built in the center of the West African nation at Divo and would generate 60 to 70 megawatts (MW), he added.

Cote d’Ivoire currently generates 2,200 MW but strong economic growth has put a strain on supplies.

The new cocoa waste plant would also save the equivalent of 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, Ogou said.

(Cover: Cote d’Ivoire, the world's top cocoa grower, wants to construct power stations burning cocoa waste. /AFP Photo)

Source(s): AFP