Biovea begins work on its Ayebo biomass plant in Ivory Coast

BIOVEA Energie, a joint venture set up by Meridiam and SIFCA, commenced earthwork on its Ayebo oil palm biomass plant in February 2022, following the community awareness and information sessions on environmental and social regulations. Electricité de France (EDF), Meridiam, and Biokala own 40%, 36%, and 24% of the project, respectively, and the project will be implemented with the assistance of  Movis Ivory Coast, who will manage logistics and transportation of the biomass from the collection site to the Ayebo plant. The plant will source 30% of the required biomass from PALMCI's oil palm plantation, a subsidiary of SIFCA, and 70% from smallholders in the region.

The project has a capacity of 46 megawatts and would generate electricity from 450,000 tons from oil palm garbage. The project is expected to inject renewable energy sourced from biomass into the national power grid, and the project will be funded through equity, loan and grants.

The project will contribute to the development of a sustainable agricultural supply chain and energy generation in the Ivory Coast due to the 25-year Purchase Agreement between Biovea and Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité. Also, the facility is expected to save 170,000 cubic tons of carbon dioxide per year once fully operational, saving about 4.3 million tons of carbon dioxide throughout the project's lifetime and contributing to the Ivorian government's objective of increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity generation mix to 42% by 2030.

Highlights of Ivory Coast

GDP: $61.35 billion as at 2020

Population: 26.38 million as at 2020

Access to electricity: 67% as at 2019

Total renewable energy capacity: 63.5% as at 2019