Press release following the prince’s agreement.
press release published on July 6th, 2006 : L’EXPRESS Maurice
“WATER AND ENERGY FOR THE INDIAN OCEAN”
Saudi prince eyeing energy production
Producing energy from waste will cost Rs 6 billion. The prince wants to finance it on condition of obtaining a contract over 20 years for the purchase of electricity by the CEB.
Saudi Prince Abdullah Bin Fahad Abdulaziz Al-Saud supports a project to produce energy from waste. This is the Water and Energy for the Indian Ocean (WEFIO) project. This project will be examined in the coming days by the High-Powered Committee of the energy sector.
The Saudi prince sent a letter on Tuesday to WEFIO management to express his intention to participate in the financing of the project. “We would like to inform you of our desire to cooperate with you in your project for the construction of a plant for waste refining and electrical energy generation in Mauritian Island”, can be read in the letter from the prince.
This support is subject to the signing of a contract for the purchase of electricity by the CEB over a period of twenty years. “We have good reason to believe that we will be able to obtain a Letter of Intent from the Board of Investment. This will allow us to start negotiations with the CEB and in the light of these negotiations, the CEB will be in a better position for WEFIO.”
According to the latter, the WEFIO project will allow the government to save Rs 315 million in terms of waste that will be transported for energy production.
WEFIO and its French partner, Inova (subsidiary of the Austrian group VonRoll Inova), already presented their project last week at the CEB. The cost of the project, which includes the installation of an incinerator, is estimated at Rs 6 billion. According to the management of WEFIO, all of the funding will be provided by WEFIO through Saudi funds.
A unit at La Chaumière
The WEFIO-Inova joint venture relies on the incineration of 250,000 tonnes of annual waste for the production of an electrical energy production unit with a capacity of 19 megawatts (Mw). It will be almost of the same capacity as that of Gamma Civic Ltd.
VonRoll Inova is one of the world leaders in the construction of energy recovery centers for waste. Its French partner will be responsible for the construction of this unit. The site to house this unit has already been chosen: it is La Chaumière, in the west of the country.
In a letter to WEFIO management last week, the BOI explained the Cabinet decision on the strategic importance of electricity in the economic development of the country and the links between the production of electric power , the use of waste and the ongoing restructuring of the sugar industry. The high-powered committee, chaired by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, will meet by the end of the week.
Gamma Civic in operation at the end of 2006
The other promoter for the production of electrical energy from waste is Gamma Civic Ltd. This company already obtained a letter of intent from the BOI in early May. It also plans to install its energy unit at La Chaumière. This unit, with a capacity of 20 MW, will use 300,000 tonnes of waste annually. Management plans to start construction of its unit by the end of 2007.
Alain BARBÉ