Indian company Abellon to grow biofuels on 10,000 hectares of land in Ghana
An Indian renewable energy company, Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd., says it intends to grow biofuels on 10,000 hectares of land in Ghana.
Abellon says it will set up a factory to produce solid biofuels and as a result create 25,000 jobs in Ghana, the Bloomberg News has reported citing the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to the report, Abellon will grow crops that require little irrigation. The crops the company plans to grow include bamboo, palmarosa and sweet sorghum, and these will be cultivated on derelict land, the UNDP says.
Citing an emailed statement from the UNDP, the report indicated that about 21,000 farmers will be employed, with another 4,000 jobs created at a planned biofuels factory to convert the plants to fuels, and a power plant to burn it.
The Bloomberg News quoted an official of Abellon in Ghana, Pragnesh Mishra as saying that the company will start making the solid biofuels this year, and the power plant will be completed in 2015 in the Ashanti region. The official added that the fuel will be exported until the power plant is built.
The UNDP which provided advice but not funding to the company according to the report says the plant will power 100,000. The report also quoted Mishra saying he hopes to secure funding for the project in the next few months.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi