Empower New Energy (Empower) and Barry Callebaut (BC) have announced the successful completion and operation of a solar power plant powering Barry Callebaut’s chocolate manufacturing operations in Tema, an industrial suburb of Ghana’s capital, Accra.
The 640 KWp solar PV plant – mounted on the rooftop, ground and carport – is part of Barry Callebaut’s ambitious plan to become a net-zero company. The project is Empower’s third solar investment in Ghana, contributing to the country´s goal of increasing its renewable share of the electricity mix to 10 percent by 2030.
Global warming, caused by fossil fuel combustion, is an increasing threat facing the planet. The BC solar plant marks a new milestone in the partners’ commitment to sustainable energy solutions. The Norwegian co-developer and investor Empower New Energy is the plant’s financier and manager, while Tino Solutions supported by CMR Group is contractor for the installation, operations and maintenance. Generating about 1 GWh per year – equal to electrifying 618 households in Ghana, the project will curtail about 500 tonnes of CO2 per annum and result in or secure up to 100 local jobs.
In 2016, Barry Callebaut Group announced a bold ambition to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025. Under the Forever Chocolate Strategy, the company is committed to four targets to address the biggest sustainability challenges in the chocolate supply chain: including eradication of child labour from the supply chain; lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty; using 100 percent sustainable ingredients in all products; and to become carbon and forest positive.
CEO-Barry Callebaut Ghana, Krishnakumar Ramachandran Pillai said: “We are pleased to see that with this project we cover a significant share of our power needs from solar PV modules, generated locally at our site. The solar project partnership with Empower New Energy is part of our ‘Forever Chocolate Strategy’, making chocolate production 100 percent sustainable”.
Terje Osmundsen, CEO-Empower New Energy said: “We are very pleased to collaborate with Barry Callebaut on making this solar project happen. By installing solar panels on the roof, ground and carport, this project shows how businesses in Africa can leverage their existing spaces to reduce energy costs and improve their environmental performance”.
