Bioenergy in Sao Tome and Principe Project Officially Inaugurated

The opening session of the project "Bioenergy in Sao Tome and Principe: Biogas Energy Recovery" was held on January 16, 2017 at the Portuguese Cultural Center in São Tomé. In this session, Maria João Martins, Ecovisão Executive Director, and Arlindo de Carvalho, General Environment Director of São Tomé and Príncipe, highlighted the impact and the main results achieved through the project implementation, which is currently benefiting 18 families, for a total of approximately 70 people as an outcome of five anaerobic digesters installation. The meeting was attended by His Excellency, the Minister of Environment of Portugal, João Pedro Matos Fernandes and His Excellency the Minister of Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Environment of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, who highlighted the value of cooperation projects that have been developed among the countries they represent.

It was followed a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the communities of Mendes da Silva and Novo Destino, where attendees could witness the proper operation of anaerobic digesters and related facilities. At Novo Destino it was also possible to taste some of the local products of São Tomé made in the biogas stoves, by the families benefited from this project.

The event attracted the attention of the Media which accompanied the visits and recorded several testimonies from members of the communities showing their satisfaction with the project. The Minister of Infrastructures, Natural Resources and Environment, Carlos Vila Nova also stressed the need to follow-up the project, in a first stage benefiting the remaining families of the communities of Mendes da Silva, Novo Destino and Santa Jenny and after extending to other communities surrounding Parque Obô.

Ecovisão took advantage of the trip to São Tomé and, with the intention to get funding to continue the Project, gathered with several entities, namely the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Development Fund (EDF).

The expectation of continuity is great and the desire to contribute to improving the quality of these populations’ life, while creating value for the company, is one of Ecovisão’s aims.

Learn more about the project here.