Sunbird Bioenergy Sierra Leone
An integrated agricultural estate and renewable energy company located in Mabilifu, Bombali District, Northern Province.
Sustainable Agriculture
A 23,500 Ha farm that produces feedstock for our biorefinery for conversion into food & energy products.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is the primary crop on the estate and is used to produce ethanol, power and sugar. It is planted across more than 10,000 Ha of land and can yield more than 900,000 MT per year.
Cassava
Cassava is the secondary crop used to produce ethanol in the off-crop season and other products, including starch and flour.
Irrigation
The farm has more than 120 centre pivots and approximately 10,000 Ha of land under irrigation. Water is sustainably abstracted from the Rokel River.
Biorefinery
Converts sustainably produced feedstock into renewable fuel, power and other by-products.
The company has several commodities available for regional distribution or FOB Freetown.
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Cassava chips
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Sugar (ICUMSA-150)
Renewable Fuel
The biorefinery produces up to 85 million litres per annum of anhydrous ethanol or biofuel, complying with the international EN 15376.
Ethanol (ENA)
The company recently commissioned a distillery upgrade to include a 100 M³ per day extra neutral alcohol (“ENA”) plant that produces high-quality potable alcohol from sugarcane juice. ENA is available for export to the following specification: SGS ENA Analytical Report 2020.
Bulk Storage
The company has more than 20 million litres of bulk ethanol storage and recently commissioned an additional 7 million litres of bulk ENA storage for vendor inventory management of ENA.
Commodities
Renewable Energy
An integrated agricultural estate and renewable energy company located in Mabilifu, Bombali District, Northern Province.
Biomass Power
De Smet Engineers designed and constructed the powerhouse, which houses a 32 MW Siemens Turbo generator. Steam is generated from bagasse and other waste biomass in two ISGEC boilers. We can supply a surplus 200 GWh into the national grid (approximately 20% of Sierra Leone’s capacity) and to regional customers.
Power Distribution
Power can be supplied to wholesale customers via our own local micro-grid or by “wheeling” via the national grid. The company has constructed and commissioned 40 towers and 10km of high-voltage line to connect to the national grid and installed more than 200 km of local micro-grid.
The biomass power plant has a production capacity of 32 MW and can export 200 GWh per year.
Power Export
Sustainability
Sustainability is deeply embedded in Sunbird Bioenergy’s everyday business.
History
The company has been designed and developed as a benchmark for sustainable investment in Africa.
Browns & Company
In 2019 Browns and Company Plc joined the Consortium and became the primary operations partner and lead investor.
Sunbird Bioenergy
In 2016 Sunbird Bioenergy Africa, Faber Capital and a consortium of investors acquired a majority stake in the business and it was renamed Sunbird Bioenergy Sierra Leone Limited (AOG Press Release).
AOG
In 2008, the company was incorporated as Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone Limited by the Addax and Oryx Group (“AOG”) of Switzerland.
Introduction
The company has been designed and developed as a benchmark for sustainable investment in Africa and in accordance with EU, World Bank, African Development Bank standards and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The company produces bioethanol (biofuel), potable alcohols (ENA) and renewable power from sugarcane and cassava:
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85 million litres of renewable fuel
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10 million litres of potable ethanol products
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275 GWh of renewable power