Deal #1798 Version #89295

In 2020 the company grew 10,000ha of sugarcane and 2,000ha of cassava. Estimated to produce 100000 cubic meters / 10000 t of bio-ethanol within 2 years to be exported to the EU: full production by 2015.

Ethanol for export and electricity for the local grid. On 10 November 2011, the ground-breaking ceremony for the factory was held. It was evident that the company needed the government to pay for the electricity, and when this was not forthcoming, employees’ salaries were delayed. Land lease payments to chiefdom authorities were also held by the company until they received electricity revenues from the government.

The project started off as a plant producing bioethanol for export and electricity for the Sierra Leonean market. Although the provision of electricity to the national grid had been paused at the time of writing, the company still produces biofuel and has recently commissioned an Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) plant to produce alcohol from the sugarcane. Both the bioethanol and ENA are sold in Sierra Leone but are also exported to Europe. The company claims to have sold over 96% of alcohol for the production of hand sanitizer to fight the 2019 novel coronavirus. The company has installed another 7 million litres bulk ENA storage to a total of 27 million litres of storage.

The aim was to supply 20% of country’s total electricity to the national grid. In 2014, the company supplied power to the national grid, but production was short-lived and had to stop during the Ebola outbreak. Sometime in 2018, the company also produced and sold electricity to the national grid. When the new government of Sierra Leone took power in 2018, they discontinued the contract with Sunbird, citing the huge cost of electricity demanded by the company.