In Madagascar, IED, in association with ISL and ILS Topo Africa, provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons (MEH), for the  feasibility study of the hydroelectric development of the Fanovana site (9MW),  as part of the global project to improve governance and operations in the electricity sector (PAGOSE) funded by the World Bank.

The site start-up and reconnaissance mission took place just before the pandemic, in March 2020. The first development scenarios are emerging, and further studies will begin in terms of topography, geotechnical, and environmental studies.

IED will be in charge of the study regarding the electrical connection and integration of the hydroelectric power plant on the grid, the contracting strategy (PPP) as well as the economic and financial analysis.

Energy value of waste from African agro-industry by the deployment of gases developed and operated by the IED group in Cambodia:  the AGROGAZELEC project.

The French Global Environment Fund, FFEM, supports this transfer of know-how that will both control the environmental problem of waste management and meet the electricity and heat needs of agro-industries, thus contributing to their competitiveness. The launch meeting took place on June 3^rd in our office premises. The project will focus on the cashew sector.

Agro-industrial cashew production in West Africa is a major development challenge with a turnover of more than 2.7 billion euros. Today, the vast majority of this production is exported, mainly to Vietnam, to be processed and made fit for consumption. One of the major challenges of this sector today is to develop a processing capacity at the production sites, in order to maximize the added value for these producing countries and to minimise the ecological impact of the sector. Many West African countries, such as Côte d'Ivoire and Benin, are pushing in this direction.  

However, this development involves being well prepared: the operation of processing plants drastically increases the electricity bill, and the final waste represents  a major environmental challenge;  indeed, the cashew shell is particularly acidic and can neithert be stored, at the risk of degrading the soils, nor burned  in piles,  which  causes a persistent smell for several kilometers around.

In this context, the IED Group has developed, in partnership with a network of SMEs in Cambodia, a technology of gasogens  for the production of electricity by burning organic waste (rice ball, cashew shell, etc.). This solution responds both to the environmental challenge by the  complete combustion of cashew shells, but also to the economic challenge of supplying the processing plant with electricity. With more than 5 years of experience building and operating biomass power plants in Cambodia through its sister company IEDInvest, which also carries the development and financing of power plants,,  IED is now working to replicate  the model in West Africa. IED is working on this project in partnership with CIRAD, a research unit on the development of biomass energy, and Nitidae, which has  in-depth knowledge of the agricultural and agribusiness sectors in West Africa and technical and institutional expertise in the cashew sector in Africa.

The next steps in this innovative project are to adapt the concept developed in Cambodia in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin, with the focus on building the first power plant in Africa by 2022.

Project for the decentralized production of electricity and Valorization of the Rural electricity for agriculture and rural development in Cameroon, PLAN VER.

In 2014, a partnership between the Rural Electricity Agency of Cameroon, the Special Fund for Equipment and Intercommunal Intervention (FEICOM) and IED, was signed to carry out a project Energy Facility of the European Union (co-financed by the State of Cameroon):  the project Plan VER (decentralised production of electricity and enhancement of rural electrification for agriculture and rural development).

The main objectives of the project are:

• Improving access to energy in rural areas, in quantity and quality;
• Strengthen synergies between electrification and agricultural/rural development;
• Develop local hydropower generation (in a decentralised site or connected to the national network) with the involvement of the Commons, through Public-Private Partnerships.

One of the actions of the VER Plan consists on the one hand in the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant and associated networks within the perimeter of a concession of the national electricity distributor ENEO (commune of Batié, department of the High plateaus) and in the construction of a clearing station and associated networks outside this perimeter (in the department of Mbam-and-Kim). These two components offer the opportunity to serve nearly 6000 households downstream of these sites and to have energy both in quantity and better quality, for the development of at least 200 productive uses in the agro-pastoral field.

IED thus acts as a technical assistant for the construction of these two equipments and has notably carried out the studies of Detailed Pre-Project that began  in 2018.

At present, the Call of Offers documents for the selection of construction companies for the  construction  of the Mbamand Kim developments are being finalized..

On the side of the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant of Batié, with a capacity of 1.6 MW and operating a fall of 117m on the Ché  Ngwen River, the Call for Offers for the selection of construction companies is underway, the pre-information notice is currently online until June 12, 2020:  https://www.jeuneafrique.com/annonce/944011/avis-de-pre-information/. This Call for Offers includes two lots:

• Completion of civil engineering work;
• Supply, installation and commissioning of hydro-electromechanical and control-control equipment.

Plane view from the top of the catch of the Small Batié Hydroelectric Power Plant

Development scheme for the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant in Batié

In April 2020, IED and its local partner VSI Africa began work on the "Prefeasibility Study for Electrification by Renewable Energy Sources, in 21 provinces locations that are unserved or under-supplied with electricity".

This study is sponsored by UCM, The Ministry of Energy's Project Coordination and Management Unit, and is funded by the World Bank.

A first step is to estimate the electricity demand of each city for the next few years. On this basis, IED will propose suitable solutions for renewable production (solar and hydroelectric in particular) and electricity distribution. The economic, financial, environmental and social aspects of the projects will also be analysed.