Ethiopia to transform waste into electricity. Addis Ababa, the capital of the East African state of Ethiopia, is home to Africa’s first waste incineration plant. The “Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project” is located at the Koshe landfill which is the largest landfill in the city. The landfill site covers about 36 football pitches and has been growing steadily in recent years due to rapid urbanisation and the country’s strong economic growth (>10% annually).
The plant, which complies with EU emission standards, is revolutionising the way waste is handled in the city and is expected to convert around 1400 tons of waste into energy daily. This corresponds to 80% of the waste produced in Addis Ababa. The energy generated from the city’s waste will contribute towards 30% of the city’s household energy needs, which has a population of around 4.8 million people.
The four major opportunities arising from the commissioning of the plant are:
1. Saving land that would otherwise be used for landfill
2. Generation of renewable electrical energy
3. Preventing the release of toxic chemicals into groundwater
4. Reduction of methane gas emissions into the atmosphere
The waste is incinerated in a combustion chamber, heating up water at an extremely high temperature to convert it into steam. Energy is then created by the highly pressurized steam which is converted into mechanical energy which rotates the blades in the steam turbine. The steam turbine is connected to two steam turbine driven generators that produces electricity. By using modern gas treatment technology, the release of toxins during the process is greatly reduced.
The Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project resulted from a partnership between the Ethiopian government and a consortium of international companies: Cambridge Industries Limited (Singapore), China National Electric Engineering and Ramboll, a Danish engineering firm. According to reports, this project is only one component of Ethiopia’s broader strategy to combat pollution and to use renewable energy in all sectors of the economy. The Ethiopian government has invested a total of $96 million in the project and has created 1300 jobs for Ethiopians and 286 jobs for foreign workers.
The Reppie project is not intended to remain the only project of its kind but will serve as a model for other projects in other major cities to transform waste into electricity in African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon and Senegal.
