Mathenge tree logs used as biomass. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation is scouting for projects that can generate 1.856 megawatts using waste-to-energy technologies such as biomass gasification.
- The UN agency said it will provide grant funding of up to $300 (Sh30,000) per installed kilowatt of power produced, to cover ‘incremental costs of the projects’ and will be disbursed during the life of project roll out.
The United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation is seeking to invest Sh250 million in Kenya to
fund renewable energy projects that use waste matter to generate
electricity.
The Vienna-based agency is scouting for
projects that can generate 1.856 megawatts using waste-to-energy
technologies such as biomass gasification.
Unido
reckons that Kenya is a renewable energy hub, with the unique quality of
having grid-connected projects using waste such as sugar bagasse
co-generation and agricultural waste biogas.
“We are
looking for technologies such as anaerobic digestion (biogas), biomass
gasification and combined heat and power,” said Jossy Thomas, the
officer-in-charge of renewable energy at Unido.
The UN
agency said it will provide grant funding of up to $300 (Sh30,000) per
installed kilowatt of power produced, to cover ‘incremental costs of the
projects’ and will be disbursed during the life of project roll out.
Some
of the upcoming waste-to-energy projects are a Mathenge power plant,
and a Kiambu-based start-up which converts plastic trash into energy.
American engineering firm Cummins Inc is racing to complete a 12 MW Mathenge power plant located in Marigat, Baringo County.
Producing power from the toxic shrub involves cutting
the tree stem into chips, drying them and then burnt at high
temperatures under controlled oxygen to avoid complete combustion. The
resulting gas will be used to run specialised generators which in turn
produce electricity.
The
Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation in March announced it
had invested Sh420 million in Alternative Energy Systems Ltd.
The
firm heats plastic waste to produce oil, similar to industrial diesel
oil and heavy fuel oil used in power plants, industrial furnaces and
boilers.
Naivasha-based horticulture firm VP Group
became Kenya’s second grid-connected biomass electricity producer in
2015, supplying 2MW to Kenya Power.
Mumias Sugar
switched on its 38 MW co-generation plant in May 2009. The project uses
bagasse - a byproduct of sugar cane processing - from the sugar plant
to generate electricity.
The struggling sugar miller
internally consumes 12MW to run factory operations and exports 26MW of
electricity to the national grid.
However, exports to the grid ceased in December 2014 due to a row with Kenya Power
on reliability of the electricity produced due to frequent plant shutdowns die to can shortage.
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