President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, November 8, 2107, pulled the symbolic switch to officially inaugurate Cargill’s solar facility at the company’s factory in Tema.
The President in a brief remark congratulated Cargill for the initiative and said the move to host solar powered energy is in line with government’s agenda to find alternative means of power to support industrial production, especially in the cocoa sector.
President Akufo-Addo said: “I am happy about this facility. One of our major challenges in the industrial sector relates to power, and I am always excited about initiatives geared toward renewable and alternative energy. We are committed to supporting such initiatives and, as you know, my government’s main focus is you – the private sector. I congratulate you for this, and wish that it will serve the purpose for which we have commissioned it”.
Speaking for Cargill Ghana Limited, Managing Director Mr. Pieter Reichert said the 565KWh Solar Plant is Cargill’s effort toward entrenching environmentally-friendly ways of generating power in the cocoa sector. He thanked the President for the honour and pledged Cargill’s continued support toward a sustainable cocoa industry in Ghana.
“We are excited to see the President do us the honour of commissioning this project. For us, it speaks to government’s commitment to support the private sector – and especially those of us in the cocoa industry. Since we began operating this factory in 2008, we have improved our operations by constantly finding innovative ways to enhance safety and also leave less carbon footprints. We strongly believe that this project represents our (both government and private sector) collective efforts at enhancing industrial production in the cocoa sector through safe, responsible, sustainable, energy-efficient means,” Mr. Reichert remarked.
The PV Solar system which was designed, supplied and installed by Dutch & Co. Limited, produces 764MWh of electricity annually to augment energy needs at the Tema Free Zone Enclave and boost Ghana’s renewable energy portfolio. It is also a fully-automated digital system. The performance of the installation is measured and can be monitored on smart phones, tablets, Laptop and PC’s.
The total investment in this PV Solar installation is €720,000.
Cargill has been buying cocoa from Ghana for over 40 years, and in 2008 opened its state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility in Tema. Today, the company has over 400 permanent and contracted employees processing cocoa products to service food and confectionary customers locally and around the world. Additionally, our animal nutrition business provides aqua-feed which is supporting Ghana’s tilapia fish industry. In 2016 we added a licenced buying company (LBC). Our LBC operations bring innovative ways to trade with our farmers, placing emphasis on our sustainability and traceability efforts and building on our long-term commitment to the country and our relationship with government.
About the Cargill Cocoa Promise
The Cargill Cocoa Promise was launched in 2012 to align efforts in origin countries. It is Cargill’s commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers and communities in a holistic way that will secure a thriving sector for generations to come. The origin-countries include Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia.
