Savannah power station

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Savannah power station is an operating power station of at least 90-megawatts (MW) in L'Escalier, Grand Port, Mauritius. It is also known as Savannah Estate SIDEC power station, La Baraque, Savannah Estate Steam Plant.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Savannah power station	L'Escalier, Grand Port, Mauritius	-20.473587, 57.629008 (exact)

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2: -20.473587, 57.629008

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Emergency/Backup
Unit 1	Operating	coal: unknown, bioenergy: agricultural waste (solids)	45	subcritical	2007	False
Unit 2	Operating	coal: unknown, bioenergy: agricultural waste (solids)	45	subcritical	2007	False

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	Omnicane Thermal Energy Operations La Baraque Ltd [100%]	Omnicane Ltd [60.0%]; KKR & Co. Inc [23.6%]; small shareholder(s) [11.4%]; Sugar Investment Trust [2.6%]; MCB Equity Fund Ltd [1.0%]
Unit 2	Albioma SAS [33%]; Omnicane Thermal Energy Operations La Baraque Ltd [33%]; Sugar Investment Trust [33%]	KKR & Co. Inc [39.3%]; small shareholder(s) [29.2%]; Omnicane Ltd [20.0%]; The National Pensions Fund (Mauritius) [3.5%]; MCB Equity Fund Ltd [2.6%]; Government of Mauritius [2.2%]; Sugar Investment Trust [0.9%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): imported

Background

The 90 MW Savannah power station in southern Mauritius is part of an industrial cluster at La Baraque, which comprises a modern sugar factory, a sugar refinery, a bagasse-coal cogeneration power plant, a bioethanol distillery, and a Carbon Burn-Out Unit. The power station is jointly owned by Omnicane Thermal Energy Operations (OTEO) La Baraque (65%), Albioma (25%), and Sugar Investment Trust (15%), an investment cooperative run by Mauritian sugar industry workers. As noted in Séchilienne-SIDEC's (the "Société Industrielle pour le Développement de l’Energie et de la Cogénération") 2012 reference document, OTEO La Baraque was formerly called the "Compagnie Thermique de Savannah" or CTSav..

During sugar harvests, the Savannah power station generally operates using bagasse, and simultaneously generates electricity for the Central Electricity Board (CEB) network and supplies the low-pressure steam required by Omnicane’s sugar refinery. Bagasse is a fibrous resource present in abundance in Mauritius, where sugar cane plantations remain a leading local agricultural resource. In 2018, 314,000 tonnes of bagasse were used, alongside other locally-sourced forms of biomass and coal, to supply 443 GWh of electric power to the Mauritian grid.

Omnicane's 2020 Integrated Report notes "significant wear and tear" at the plant that impacted productivity and maintenance at La Baraque. Nevertheless, the company is confident that the cluster model used at this location is the future of their efforts, calling the joint modern sugar factory, sugar refinery, bagasse-coal cogeneration power plant, bioethanol distillery and Carbon Burn-Out Unit "Omnicane 2.0". They report that both units of the plant should be fully repaired and operational by the end of 2021.

As of November 2022, Omnicane was reportedly "exploring avenues" to transition its coal assets towards a fuller biomass conversion.

In their 2022 annual report, Omnicane stated that their main objectives for the coming years included renewing the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for their La Baraque and Saint-Aubin power stations and replacing coal with biomass as an energy source. Omnicane’s partner Albioma was reportedly finalizing a technical and feasibility study on the La Baraque project that would involve importing biomass.

According to a circular notice published in September 2023, Omnicane's PPA with the Central Electricity Board was set to expire in July 2027.

According to reporting from April 2024, Omnicane had signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regarding converting the Savannah coal plant to biomass. As part of the agreement, the companies planned to jointly evaluate the social, environmental, and financial impacts of the conversion.

As of April 2025, one of the units at the Savannah power station was undergoing repairs after an alternator broke down in the previous month.

In October 2025, it was reported that a red alert had been issued by the Central Electricity Board (CEB) due to the failure of the Savannah and Fort George power plants, although the crisis was avoided through voluntary load shedding. Tensions in Mauritius over an impending energy crisis had been heightened as the Savannah and other power plants had been out of operation for several months.

In February 2026, the Savannah power station reportedly returned to service.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.