IED is waging adaptation tests for a biomass power plants technology transfer to West Africa.

The IED Group, through its subsidiary IED-Invest, has been developing and operating biomass power plants in Cambodia since 2011. In collaboration with local manufacturers, IED has developed simple and robust small-power gasification systems (approximately 200 kW per unit).

From this experience, IED is a partner in the Agrogazelec project carried out by the association Urja  Nishati,  Nitidae and CIRAD. This project is born from the identification of many biomass potentials at the levels of agribusinesses in Africa, whose amount of waste to be reclaimed would supply small and medium power plants (200 kW to 2 MW). In particular, cashew processing units are confronted with the hulls waste management.

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Funded by the French Global Environment Fund (FFEM), this project aims to develop a viable industrial solution and suitable assemblies for the development of such units.

In the prospect to transferring operational gas-based manufacturing and exploitation know-how to Cambodia, IED conducted a series of tests on a test platform set up at one of these plants in Cambodia between August and December 2020. The objective was to validate the adaptions to be brought (equipment and operating methods) to allow to operate at the cashew hull.

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In addition, the implementation of an instrumentation plan has led to a better understanding of gasification processes, and to identify avenues for improvement.  As a result of these tests, the modifications to the gasogen led to stable operation, improved efficiency and better quality gas production.

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The last phase of the trial focused on improving gas treatment to limit the amount of effluent to be treated. Considering the encouraging results at the pilot scale, work is currently underway to build equipment to treat all the gas, which will be tested in the coming months.

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At the end of these tests, the configuration of the gasification systems to be deployed in Africa will be validated in order to allow the start of construction of the first pilot units.

Work on the small Mbakaou Carrière hydroelectric power plant in Cameroon is on good track

IED INVEST, in partnership with the IED Group, the Ministry of Energy of Cameroon (MINEE), the Rural Electricity Agency (AER), ARSEL (regulation), ENEO (distribution), with financial support from the European Union, of the French Fund for the World Environment and pre-financing of the bank BGFI, is developer of the project of the small hydroelectric power plant Mbakaou Carrière (1.4 MW, 11.2 GWh/year) in the region of Adamaoua in Cameroon as IPP (Independent Power Producer).

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From 08 to 20 December 2020, the first operations took place to install hydromechanical equipment, with the installation of gates and coffers on the water intake works and the support basin, as well as the installation and adjustment of the vacuum/distributor/well sets of groups No. 1 and No. 2.

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Civil Engineering can now continue the work of the plant building around the electromechanical elements. Works to install 40 km of MT/BT power grid are going on to power the 8 communities.

The plant is scheduled for commissioning in June 2021.

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Visit by Mr. Dona Jean-Claude HOUSSOU, Benin's Minister of Energy, on the PRERA project sites led by IED

On Thursday, December 10, 2020, Benin's Energy Minister Dona Jean-Claude HOUSSOU, visited the works sites of the PRERA project:  the SBEE Network Restructuring and Extension Project in the municipality of Abomey-Calavi and 81 villages in the Atlantic department, which project IED is mastering the project management, as well as the monitoring of work and social intermediation, in order to allow access to electricity to about 800,000 beneficiaries.

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This project, which started in 2017, aims to improve the availability and quality of electricity in the urban and peri-urban centres of the municipality of Abomey-Calavi and also in the rural communities of the Atlantic department.  

Mr. HOUSSOU, Minister of Energy, was thus able to assess project progression and :

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Sarah HOLT, an expert consultant on social and economic issues for IED, presented to the Minister the social intermediation activities in the project : awareness/communication in the area of intervention, addressing and geo-referencing of the more than 30,000 potential customers, making available to eligible customers a solution to pay their connection costs to the SBEE network by mobile money, etc.

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Check the videos with the following links :

Launch of the hybridization works of 5 power plants in Gabon

Since the beginning of December 2020, a team of IED experts has been working in Gabon.

Their mission is to study the hybridization possibilities of 5 thermal power plants supplying  mini-networks  in rural areas in order to be able to assemble the tender files and provide the technical specifications.

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The IED intervention is part of the project called "Access to Basic Services in Rural and Capacity Building"  led by the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Hydraulic Resources (MMERH)  and carried out in partnership with the World Bank. This project is part of the "Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan (PSGE)" drawn up in 2012 by the Government of the Republic of Gabon, which aims to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty.

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Through this PSGE, the Government of Gabon wanted an ambitious programme of restructuring the entire energy system through numerous structuring projects favouring renewable energies in order to achieve an overall rural electrification rate of 80%.

IED in support to help Benin sign its first rural electrification concession agreements

The Millennium Challenge Account II has sought IED’s support to finalize the signature process of signing the concession agreements of 8 mini networks operators in Benin.

Benin has put in place a regulatory framework allowing private investment in the development of off-grid electricity. Eight mini-grid operators have signed a financing agreement with the Out-of-Network Clean Energy Facility (OCEF), and are currently achieving negotiations with the regulator and the licensing authority to sign the concession agreements.

Once the agreements are signed, IED will also support the licensing authority and the regulatory teams to monitor the work until its upcoming commissioning in 2022.