Uche Cecil Izuora
Morocco has awarded a $1.5 billion concession to build Africa’s first large-scale waste-to-electricity power plant, according to Reuters.
The project which is at present projected to be the largest waste-to-energy power plant would be sited in Casablanca.
The facility will process 1.5 million metric tons of waste annually and generate 115 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply nearly one million people.
The project is expected to reach full commercial operation by mid-2030, although construction remains contingent on financing.
African cities generate millions of metric tons of waste each year, yet they continue to leave much of its energy potential untapped.
According to information published by Reuters a consortium led by Swiss-Japanese company Kanadevia Inova has signed a 33.5-year concession agreement with the city to develop the project with an investment of $1.5 billion.
Under the agreement, the consortium will build the facility at the Mediouna landfill, Morocco’s largest landfill site. The landfill, which rises nearly 70 meters high, has almost reached full capacity and has caused chronic pollution to surrounding farmland for decades.
The consortium includes Kanadevia Inova, which specializes in waste recovery, Moroccan energy company Nareva, Japanese trading house Itochu, and Moroccan construction company Somagec.
The partners will build a plant that will generate electricity by incinerating municipal waste.
Once operational, the facility will process approximately 1.5 million metric tons of waste each year.
The plant will generate 115 megawatts (MW) of electricity by combining energy from waste incineration, solar panels installed on the site and landfill gas.
According to Itochu, the project will generate enough electricity to supply nearly one million people, or almost one-quarter of Casablanca’s population.
The consortium has signed power purchase agreements with Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) and regional utility SRM Casablanca-Settat, according to an Itochu statement.
However, the parties have not disclosed the financial terms of those agreements.
Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, Chief Executive Officer of Kanadevia Inova, said Moroccan banks will finance the project, although he did not identify the lenders.
“Construction will begin as soon as financing is fully secured, which we expect in the fourth quarter of this year,” Baudouin said.
The consortium expects the plant to reach full commercial operation by mid-2030.
The Casablanca project would become Africa’s first large-scale facility designed to convert municipal waste directly into electricity.
The only comparable large-scale project on the continent is New Horizons Energy in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa. That facility, commissioned in 2017, processes between 500 and 600 metric tons of waste per day to produce biomethane rather than electricity.
Morocco has already developed smaller waste-to-energy projects.
A facility built in Fez for approximately $11 million has operated since 2015. According to Agenzia Nova, the plant processes about 900 metric tons of waste per day, supplies roughly 30 per cent of local energy demand and has reduced public street-lighting costs by 40 per cent.
However, waste-to-energy technology remains controversial.
According to Zawya, some scientists, climate activists and community organizations argue that waste incineration discourages recycling and generates particulate emissions and greenhouse gases.