Biodiesel-fueled buses
On November 10, 2023, , TotalEnergies Côte D’Ivoire and Agence Nationale d’Appui au Développement Rural (ANADER) announced a biodiesel pilot in the Ivory Coast's capital city, Abidjan.
The heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) manufacturer, Scania, began collaborating with ANADER in 2017, to investigate the production of biofuels from local feedstocks such as cocoa, rubber and other agricultural waste. ANADER is a public agency which supports rural development in Ivory Coast.
In July 2022, Scania, ANADER and TotalEnergies signed an agreement to develop the pilot project further. 3,500 liters of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from rubber seeds will be produced and tested for 30 days in a Scania bus operated by the local Abidjan transport company, SOTRA. Scania has subsequently delivered to SOTRA 400 buses compatible with biodiesel (FAME) and 50 buses compatible with biogas. This delivery was part of the Ministry of Transport of Ivory Coast’s Sustainable Transport Project. The government plans to promote electricity, natural gas and biofuels in public buses across metropolitan areas in the country, beginning with Abidjan. For more information on electric vehicles in Ivory Coast, please refer to the SGS INSPIRE on Global: EV charging infrastructure in 2023 and targets for 2030.
The next phase of the biodiesel pilot project is the construction by Scania and its partners of a new bus depot and a bus rapid transit corridor. However, no information was available to confirm if the biodiesel produced locally and used in the public buses was 100% FAME, or a blend of FAME in conventional diesel.
Natural gas-powered buses
Another project related to HDVs, which started in January 2022, is the production plant for the assembly of minibuses in Koumassi, near Abidjan. This is the recent outcome of the collaboration between Iveco (an Italian vehicle manufacturer) and SOTRA. The first 60 minibuses, powered by natural gas, have been rolled out in Ivory Coast market as well as for export markets in west and central Africa.