Analysis of the environmental and social impact of electricity production in Guinea: The case of the Kaloum (100MW) and Kipe (50MW) power plants

The objective of this research is to assess the environmental and social impacts of electricity production in Guinea based on tangible and demonstrated elements. To achieve this, we first conducted an inventory of the production plants and then proceeded to analyze the environmental and social impacts. The analysis of environmental impacts (air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, etc.) was carried out on the thermal power plants of Kaloum (100MW) and Kipe (50MW). This analysis revealed that these thermal power plants in Guinea, particularly those in Kaloum and Kipé, have significant environmental impacts similar to those of thermal power plants using fossil fuels. The particularity is that these power plants are close to homes and emit a lot of smoke and noise, so the risk of contamination is very high. Although these plants contribute to the increase in electricity production in Guinea, this research has shown that this comes at a significant environmental cost. According to the results of the inventory of electricity production (table 1) acquired from this study, we note that the production capacity presents two sources of energy, including hydroelectricity which occupies a share of 78% and thermal 22%.