AfDB to fund Sierra Leone energy project

11 April 2011

Some €25 million (£22million) is to be loaned by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund the Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL) project.

Included in the project are plans to develop a Greenfield sugarcane plantation of around 10,000 hectares and to build an integrated bio-energy facility and a 32-Mega-Watt biomass co-generation power plant.

According to the AfDB, the ABSL project will create roughly 960,000 tonnes of sugarcane per year that will be used for export and domestic consumption. In addition, it will generate 165 Giga-Watt hour (GWh) of electricity.

Of this, the bank claims 100 GWh will be delivered to the domestic market.

The ABSL project represents the largest private sector investment in Sierra Leone's agriculture sector to date and is expected to broaden electricity supply throughout the country, enhance productivity in agriculture and improve the country's standing as an investment destination.

Earlier this year, a solar energy project in Sierra Leone received a $20 million (£12.6 million) loan, with the money intended to improve the energy infrastructure of the nation.

Category: Energy