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 #ticker:MSC 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 #ticker:KPLC on reliability of the electricity produced due to frequent plant shutdowns die to can shortage.
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