Africa’s first grid-connected 2.8MW biogas plant will be launched in Kenya on 1 March 2015, which will add 2.2MW of electricity generated from corn
Johnnie McMillan, managing director of Tropical Power Kenya Ltd, said that his company commissioned the US$6.5mn Gorge Farm Energy Park anaerobic digester in Kenya, which would consume 50,000 tonnes of organic waste sourced from an 800-hectare farm owned by VegPro Group.
“We expect to achieve a five-and-a-half year payback and that has been made possible by the aggregate tariff of what we sell to the grid, the locals around here and VegPro, which is East Africa’s biggest exporter of fresh vegetables to the UK,” said McMillan.
It took a year to construct the Gorge Farm Energy Park, stated Tropical Power Kenya officials. The power it is expected to add to the national grid would cost US$0.10 per kilowatt hour compared to the US$0.38kWh for diesel-generated power. In addition, the park will also feature a 10MW grid-connected solar PV plant.
