ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Independent Power Producer, Symbion Power inaugurated the completion of the 40MW Symbion Power Mandroseza Power Plant in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The plant uses Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to run four Wartsila (10MW) engines.
The Mandroseza power plant was originally commissioned in 2008 by Jirama, the national utility of Madagascar. After years of neglect, by 2015 its available capacity had been reduced to only 2MW. This created a considerable power deficit in the capital city when electricity supply from the country’s hydro-electric system was unavailable during the dry season.
To address this problem, later that year, the administration of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina through Jirama awarded a contract to Symbion Power Mandroseza S.A.R.L. that would see Symbion fully rehabilitate the plant and operate it for the duration of the 20-year concession.
Paul Hinks, Chief Executive Officer of Symbion said, “Currently, Madagascar has limited fuel supply options to produce round the clock, baseload power. New hydro-electric plants will take several years to build and the same can be said for coal-fired plants. Solar power does not function day and night on a large scale so whilst it is clearly an important part of Madagascar’s future energy mix it isn’t going to solve the basic need for reliable power today.”
He continued, “It is simply untenable for a country the size of Madagascar, a nation that is larger than France, to deliver electricity to its people without building an electricity grid. It is also unsustainable for Jirama to fuel over 100 power plants with very expensive diesel fuel. Indeed, it is very encouraging to see that the government is now focusing on switching to the use of much cheaper HFO coupled with a transmission system that will allow centralized power to be delivered to customers all over the country. Madagascar has its own oil resource at Tsimororo and we have already used this oil to run the power plant. Naturally, that oil should be at a lower cost than buying imported fuel and this will be yet another important driver for the economy of the country. Hopefully, at some time in the future Madagascar will discover gas in the Mozambique Channel. The government is also implementing a renewable energy strategy that will see solar and hydropower supplement the grid and deliver reliable off-grid solutions.”
“When we first entered the market, we were the victims of numerous false news reports about the cost of the power we would be selling,” said Hinks. “But now, it has been established that in fact Symbion is by far the lowest cost power from any private sector supplier in the country. The Jirama workforce at Mandroseza have been transferred to Symbion Power Mandroseza S.A.R.L. and they are very happy with the conditions they work in and the support they get from our management. In turn, we are more than satisfied with our team, our client Jirama, and with the support we have been provided by the government of Madagascar. We really love this beautiful country and we are keen to invest in more projects.”
In Madagascar, Symbion has partnered with local developer Vision Madagascar (ViMa) and through its Mauritius investment vehicle with Cyprus based investor, Alpha Innovations Management Limited. Zouzar Bouka the owner of ViMa remarked, “Symbion’s professionalism and work ethic has completely transformed the Symbion Power Mandroseza Power Plant and the people who work in it. Alongside Symbion and Alpha, we look forward to doing more in the power sector so that access to electricity for the Malagasy people is rapidly increased.”
ABOUT SYMBION POWER
Symbion Power is one of the most dynamic American power sector firms in the electricity generation, transmission and distribution industry with an established presence throughout sub-Saharan Africa. symbion-power.com
ABOUT VISION MADAGASCAR
VISION MADAGASCAR (ViMa) was founded in 2000 by Zouzar Bouka. Extensively referenced for its architectural achievements such as the City Hall of Antananarivo and the South African Embassy, ViMa’s latest venture is the 79‐acre Majunga Free Trade Hub with 650,000 square feet undercover: “a one‐stop logistics hub for our resources sector on the west coast.” Ventures including ViMa Oil & Gas, ViMa Mining and ViMa Woods (operating to FSC standards) position as a major contributor to the development of a country in which private enterprise contributes fully to improving Malagasy quality of life. ViMa ‘s association with brands like sporting promoter ASO, Regus business centres, Imax and the World Trade Center are making it a truly global player. visionmadagascar.com
