Addax Bioenergy SA, a unit of Geneva-based oil and gas company Addax & Oryx Group Ltd., has begun producing sugarcane bio-ethanol and renewable electricity in Makeni, Sierra Leone.

The US$550m project comprises of a Greenfield of 10,000 hectare sugarcane plantation, construction of bio-ethanol refinery and biomass-fuelled co-power generation plant, which are able to meet about 20% of the country’s electricity needs. The company will produce 85,000 m3 of bio-ethanol per year by end 2016.

Sierra Leone has joined global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 56,000t CO2 per year through the replacement of fossil fuel-intensive energy production. It also the first initiative in Sierra Leone to be registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Addax Bioenergy is a subsidiary of private investment group AOG, which was formed in 2008 to develop a sustainable investment model for bio-energy in Africa. It is certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and complies with the most stringent global sustainability standards, including the World Bank’s IFC.