With proven specific expertise in the study, design, implementation and operation of biomass power plants, IED and its partners have been selected to provide support to AFD and Nampower for the development of the Otjikoto biomass power plant in Namibia.

Namibia is currently facing a range of economic, environmental and energy challenges. From an energy perspective, Namibia imports more than 77% of its national electricity consumption. On the environmental front, the "Encroacher bush" the invasive vegetation, endangers about 45 million hectares of land, with impacts on biodiversity, water management and rural agriculture. In addition, poverty and unemployment affect 47% of the population living mainly in rural areas.

(Photo courtesy DAS)

Energy recovery from invasive vegetation would allow Namibia to increase its energy security and contribute to rural economic development while having a positive impact on the environment. 

It is in this context that Namibia's national electricity company, Nampower, plans to build and operate the Otjikoto Biomass Power Plant (OBPS), a 40 MWe power plant that will generate electricity by burning wood chips from the invasive bush ("encroacher bush"), harvested from the areas surrounding the project site.

After carrying out numerous technical, environmental and social studies, Nampower is in the process of launching tenders for EPC and fuel supply contracts. As for AFD, it is currently investigating a loan to Nampower to finance part of the production plant. On the other hand, the sustainability of the fuel supply chain is a key factor in the success of OBPS and other similar projects.  Aware of this point, NamPower, accompanied by AFD, plans to submit a grant application to the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) to ensure the long-term sustainability of the exploitation of the invasive bush  while maximizing the positive social impacts of the project.

In line with these elements, IED and its partners therefore have the mission to:

• Prepare the examination of the FFEM grant application presented to the FFEM Steering Committee of August 2022;
• Assist AFD in the due diligence of the OBPS project to address the specific concerns raised by AFD's credit committee.

The consortium formed and led by IED, brings together all the expertise necessary to carry out this project with the expertise of Nitidae's supply chain, INSUCO's environmental and social impact studies and Maxime Droit's design and operation of biomass power plants. A consortium supported by the local expertise of Werner Petrick (Namisun), who also participated in the realization of the social and environmental study of the OBPS project.

As part of an electrification project and a capacity building program with SENELEC, the electricity grid operator in Senegal, SAGEMCOM asked IED to carry out theoretical and practical training on the electrical and mechanical dimensioning of the HTA and BT networks.

This 3 weeks training was provided by IED from 17 January to 04 February 2022 and was focused on 3 themes:

• Week 1: Village mapping from a Geographic Information System (MANIFOLD) and demand forecasting model
• Week 2: Electrical sizing of HTA and LV networks
• Week 3: Mechanical sizing of HTA and BT networks

The different themes were addressed through theoretical presentations and practical manual exercises. Thus, the students were able to apply the theoretical elements and exercises on the HTA/BT GISELEC network sizing software developed and marketed by IED.

Find our IT solutions and training offers on the website : www.ied-sa.com

Supportive of actions in favour of vulnerable people in precarious situations, IED joined in 2022 the Entreprise des Possibles.

L'Entreprise des Possibles is a collective of committed companies founded in 2019 by Alain Mérieux. Its goal with its collaborators, public actors and various associations, is to mobilize human, financial and real estate resources to amplify the action of associations to help the most deprived such as fragile and homeless people.

In 2021, this collective did collect more than one million euros, paving the way for new projects to enable the reintegration of these precarious people.

On the occasion of the 8^th edition Promote exhibition, held from 19 to 27 February 2022 in Yaoundé, IED Invest was awarded the prize for the best SME in Renewable Energies, Small Hydropower category, by the Cameroonian Association of Renewable Energies (ACER).

The biennial international exhibition Promote brings together companies, administrations, regulatory agencies, institutions and various organizations, which gathered this year around the theme "The industrialization of Africa, a key to the emergence of the continent". The show each edition, welcomes more than 1000 exhibitors from 30 countries.

Mr Denis RAMBAUD-MEASSON, Chairman of IED

The prize rewards IED Invest efforts to contribute to the rural electrification of Africa through sustainable and ecological solutions adapted to the population needs, such as Mbakaou small hydroelectric power plant in Cameroon, which operation started at the beginning of 2022.