EDP, a company that operates throughout the electricity sector's value chain, delivered a steam power generation project to one of Barry Callebaut's units – a manufacturer of high quality cocoa and chocolate – located in Itabuna, Bahia. The initiative consists of a biomass boiler that will have cocoa husk as the main fuel, in addition to a natural gas reserve boiler.

This is the first project built by EDP using cocoa husk-based biomass. The input, supplied by Barry Callebaut itself, is a residue from the cocoa paste manufacturing process, which, in this way, can be reused in the production process. The main boiler can also be powered by other types of biomass, such as wood chips. The natural gas boiler, in turn, will only be used during maintenance of the main boiler.

The production of steam by the new plant will avoid the emission of approximately 3,780 tons of CO2 per year, since the use of the residue as a source for the production of steam itself cancels out the emissions that would occur with the burning of fossil fuel. In addition, it avoids those that would result from the displacement of raw materials, as well as the release of some gases from the decomposition of organic matter, such as methane, one of the biggest contributors to global warming.

Challenges won

The planning and execution time for the installation of the biomass boiler built by Barry Callebaut was only 14 months, with part of the works taking place during the pandemic period, which required special measures to complete the project on time with all the necessary care to ensure the safety of the workers involved.

In addition to carrying out the project, EDP will also be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the new unit during the term of the contract. With its own power generation plant, Barry Callebaut now has greater predictability of costs and reliability, as it has two boilers. In the medium term, there is also the cost reduction generated by the initiative.

 “EDP is proud to successfully complete yet another project that brings energy efficiency and savings to its customers. Furthermore, with the use of biomass, a renewable source, we are able to offer a solution that benefits the environment and stimulates the circular economy”, says Carlos Andrade, Vice President of Strategy and New Business at EDP.

Energy Efficiency

Since 2016, EDP has delivered 213 installations with energy efficiency solutions. Together, they save 379 GWh of energy, which corresponds to 136 thousand tons of CO2 that were not released into the atmosphere. Among the successful cases, the following stand out:

Makro:  extensive energy efficiency project that implemented improvements in 69 stores of the supermarket wholesale network in 2017. With an investment of R$ 60 million, the wholesaler reduced its energy consumption with lighting by up to 55%.

Costa do Sauípe:  carried out in the Costa do Sauípe hotel complex, in Bahia, the project developed in 2016 promoted the modernization of the air conditioning system of two hotels in the tourist complex, with automation and retrofit of chillers and motor pumps. At the end of the remodeling, an annual saving of 2,965 MWh was detected, approximately 34% greater than had been projected.

Shopping Vitória:  the project aimed to modernize the facilities of the Cold Water Plants in two wings of the mall, located in Espírito Santo. The objective was to reduce costs and increase system reliability, enabling operation even in case of failure or unavailability of the main equipment, with savings of 2,782 MWh per year.

About EDP in Brazil

With over 20 years of experience, EDP is one of the largest private companies in the electricity sector operating throughout the value chain. The Company, which has more than 10,000 direct and outsourced employees, has six hydroelectric and one thermoelectric generation units, in addition to operating in Transmission, Commercialization and Energy Services. In Distribution, it serves about 3.5 million customers in São Paulo and Espírito Santo, in addition to being the main shareholder of Celesc, in Santa Catarina. In 2020, it was elected the most innovative company in the electricity sector by the Valor Inovação ranking, of the Valor Econômico newspaper, and is a reference in Governance and Sustainability, having been on the B3 Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) for 14 consecutive years.

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