Plans in place to build Kenya’s first biomass plant
According to the Kenyan press, TowerPower, a joint venture between Kenya’s Comcraft Group and Powergas International of the UK, is to build the East African country’s first biomass power plant. As well as producing clean power, the project will use a noxious invasive, helping to rid the country of this weed and generate cash in the local community.
The 30-MW facility will cost $21 million to build, and will be sited at Marigat, Baringo District, 220 kilometres northwest of the country’s capital, Nairobi. The power plant will provide green energy to an Industrial park as well as the neighbouring industries.
According to Damaris Akoth, an agronomist at TowerPower, the plant will use the local Prosopis Juliflora tree (commonly known as Mathenge - see inset) as a feedstock.
Prosopis Juliflora was first found in Kenya in 1973 after being brought in from Brazil to reforest quarries in Mombasa. It was later introduced in Baringo, Tana and Pokot areas to curb desertification and fuel wood shortages. It is estimated that Baringo has a Mathenge forest cover of about 30,000 hectares, which Tower Power calculates can supply its power plant for 10 years.
As well as providing availing of a cheap feedstock, TowerPower says it will help to clear the region of the plant, which has been in the media for its invasive and destructive growth habits. The species is a noxious weed and it is envisaged that about 2,000 households begin supplying the firm with the tree stems, converting a problem invasive into a cash crop.
“The tree stem will be cut into chips and dried then reacted 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,” Tower Power said in a statement to Business Daily.
TowerPower explains that the tree contains a lot of energy within it and if well processed can be used to generate power. “Prosopis Juliflora produces good quality fuel of one of the highest recorded calorific value, about 5000kcal/kg, which burns well even when freshly cut,” said Damaris Akoth, an agronomist at TowerPower.
The company also intends to build another 12-MW biomass plant at Kinango, Kwale County. Both biofuel plants will also be fed by agricultural residue such as wheat and sisal waste and earn carbon credits – with estimated carbon emission savings of 52,300 tonnes annually. TowerPower is currently negotiating the terms of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Kenya Power.
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