Reppie project: The first African waste-to-energy facility is being built in Ethiopia

Ethiopian entrepreneur Samuel Alemayehu is working on building Africa’s first waste-to-energy plant. The goal is to turn the urban waste in Addis Ababa into energy.

As more and more people are sicking the city life, and more industries are being built, the rapid transformation of Addis Ababa has created a serious urban waste issues. Home to one of the largest waste landfills in Africa, Addis Ababa waste issue is a serious one. Big like 36 football pitches, the waste from the site has polluted nearby rivers, and caused many deaths in past years. Ethiopian entrepreneur Samuel Z. Alemayehu has made it “his mission to conquer the mountain of garbage in his country”. He is building Africa’s first waste-to-energy plant, which will “reduce noxious and dangerous landfill while powering urban homes”.

Africa’s first waste-to-energy plant
According to Samuel, “the plant will supply 30% of Addis Ababa’s household energy needs and incinerate roughly 80% of its rubbish” (1,400 tons of waste every day). The plant burns the capital’s rubbish at a temperature of up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and converts it into 185 million KW hours of electricity per annum.

“Alemayehu oversees the $120 million project as a co-founder of Cambridge Industries, which together with its Chinese JV partner CNEEC, has joined the Ethiopian government and a consortium of international companies to transform the city’s approach to waste.”

Samuel Alemayehu
A Stanford engineer, former Silicon Valley entrepreneur and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Alemayehu an Ethiopian entrepreneur, and the co-founder and managing director of Cambridge Industries.

Alemayehu and his family moved to the U.S when he was a child.

He studied engineering at Stanford University, then went back to  Ethiopia where he has been contributing to the developement of his country.

 

“Alemayehu, is already working on expanding the reach of renewables on the continent. He has plans to construct similar waste-to-energy plants in Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, Senegal and Djibouti”. We really hope that Reppie will serve as a model for other countries in the region, and around the world.

Addis Ababa Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project

Sources: Eyes Witness News, & Face2faceAfrica