Kenyan Sugar Producers Urging Cogen

The Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) is urging the country’s sugar producers to up cogeneration efforts and ethanol production as sugar manufacturers are looking into slashing operating costs to become competitive with international markets.

Currently the East African country’s sugar is twice as expensive as products from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). However, that will change as Comesa products have been restricted from the sugar market under a regional trade pact that expires in December. The KSB plans to push producers to sell sugar as a byproduct of other larger operations.

When the two projects are complete, the Board plans to push for the transformation of most millers into entities selling sugar only as a by-product of other larger operations. KSB said in its release of a new policy, "It is estimated that the industry has potential to generate up to 190 MW of electricity from this source, which is currently under-exploited."

The Mumias Sugar Co. is the only sugar company at this time that produces electricity for commercial use producing 38 MW of energy made from a byproduct of sugar production and sells 26 MW to Kenya Power and Lighting Co. Although the Board hopes to get other millers like Nzoia, Miwani, Sony, Chemelil, and Muhoroni involved in cogeneration. Chemelil announced that it signed an agreement with KenGen to generate an additional 25 MW of electricity and has also partnered with a local green energy consultancy group to begin using cogeneration techniques. The KSB said that the country lacks a supportive pricing mechanism for cogeneration, which is an obstacle in order to entice investors.

In Kenya’s latest feed-in tariff (FIT) revision, a non-firm power tariff would not exceed $0.06 and apply to the first 50 MW of non-firm power generating biomass plants. And while some are concerned about the country’s oil-fired power stations cropping up, Kenya is looking at having about 10% of the petroleum used in the country blended with ethanol which would significantly lower its total import bill expected to begin in September.

The industry has developed a proposal for a more progressive FIT policy on biomass generated electricity for consideration by the Energy Ministry, according to KSB’s corporate affairs manager Christine Chesaro. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said the request for a tariff review will be done on a case by case basis with respect to a production cost analysis brought by each miller. ERC Director General Kaburu Mwirichia said sugar millers will have to justify the requested tariff review so that they do not turn cogeneration into a cash cow.

Get the LATEST issue of Alternative Energy Africa featuring biofuels in the aviation industry, the Northwest Bend, and much more. Subscribe today to stay in-the-know.