Barry Callebaut Ghana Signs Deal To Increase Solar Power For Cocoa Processing

Barry Callebaut Ghana has partnered with Empower New Energy, a Norwegian solar investment company, to expand solar production at its manufacturing site in Tema.

The Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

Empower New Energy signed a contract with Barry Callebaut Group to install Solar PV panels on their factory site.

The 640kWp project 100% financed by Empower New Energy, will include PV installations on parts of the factory roof, the roof of the administration building as well as on the carport roof.

This is Empower’s eighth solar investment project and the second in Ghana.

Barry Callebaut sources its raw products from several countries in West Africa, including Ghana. In Ghana, they have a cocoa processing facility in Tema, which will be the site of this project.

This 0.64MWp Solar PV project is developed and implemented in partnership with the experienced international energy company CMR Group and SunPower Innovations.

Barry Callebaut which has declared a commitment to making sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025, has a strong focus on sustainability and a strategy to reduce their carbon footprint throughout their supply chain which is one of their principal interests in this project.

The project developer is CMR Group (Control, Measure & Regulation) who will also be the engineering and construction partner (EPC).

SunPower Innovations, a Ghanaian company, will oversee the installation, operation and maintenance of the project. Both partners are said to have solid track records for PV projects.

Renewable energy that will be generated per year: 0.98 GWh – this is equivalent to electrifying 618 households in Ghana, the project will curb 497 tonnes of CO2 per annum, and just under 12,500 tonnes of CO2 in its lifetime.

Barry Callebaut Ghana estimates that the project will lead to or secure just under 100 local jobs, both direct and indirect.

Barry Callebaut Group announced in 2016 a bold ambition to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025 when it launched its sustainable program ‘forever chocolate’.

Under its Forever Chocolate program, the company says it is committed to four targets to address the biggest sustainability challenges in the chocolate supply chain, including the eradication of child labour from the supply chain, lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, using 100% sustainable ingredients in all products and to become carbon and forest positive.

The CEO of Barry Callebaut Ghana, Krishnarkumar Ramanchandran Pillai said, “A key area we are using to reduce our carbon footprint is electricity generation through solar; to which end, we have in the first phase mounted a 0.5MW solar farm at our Tema site accounting for 6% of the site’s electricity needs.

He further stated, “This project is the second phase which involves our collaboration with Empower New Energy to expand solar to cover our roof surfaces and car park spaces.”

“This will increase our solar penetration to 14% at the Tema site. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint, investing in solar will contribute to a stable energy cost and power supply to our critical processes and equipment,” Pillai explained.

“We believe that this partnership will go a long way to ensure that we meet our energy demands while staying carbon positive for our sustainability agenda,” he added.

Through this solar installation, an estimated 325 tons of carbon (CO2) emissions would have been reduced from our operations

CEO of Empower New Energy, Terje Osmundsen, said they are proud to partner with Barry Callebaut, CMR and Sunpower.

“Our mission, to invest in renewable energy, is in full alignment with the UN SDGs of reducing poverty and fighting climate change,” Osmundsen emphasised.

He added, “By joining forces, we can do even more to support sustainable growth in developing countries, help create new jobs and reduce emissions while also securing long-term recurring revenues for all investors.”

Barry Callebaut GhanaChocolateCocoaEmpower New EnergyForever chocolateRenewable energySolar energySolar PVSustainability
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