Germany, Ghana ink €5 million deal to build 400 kW biogas plant

The German government will grant Ghana €5 million for the construction of a plant that will produce electricity from waste.

The unit will have a capacity of 400 kW.

The grant-related MoU was signed by Anja Karliczek, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, and Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Ghanaian Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.

The project will be carried out jointly by three German research partners, six Ghanaian research centers, two German and three Ghanaian industrial partners.

According to the government, the overall objective of the project, which is part of the country’s Renewable Energy Plan integrated into the 31 national commitments, in response to the Lima (Peru) call for action, is to transform waste into energy using hybrid solar photovoltaic, biogas and pyrolysis systems.

The construction of the waste-to-energy plant will start on October 1, 2019, and the plant will be commissioned by September 1, 2023.

Anja Karliczek, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research explained that if the pilot project is successful, 10 more plants of the same type, but of a larger scale, would-be built-in Ghana. They could produce between 1 MW and 5 MW, he said.

The project will also train two post-PhD fellows, three PhD fellows, ten master’s students, and 20 university professionals on hybrid biogas pyrolysis systems for waste treatment.