Construction for a biogas plant in Kenya which started in November last year on a five acre plot of land donated by a local housing co-operative
The plant is being built by Asticom K Ltd, a Kenyan company that provides services in waste recycling, with US$12.7mn funding from the multi-donor Climate Technology Initiative.
Asticom CEO Leah Tsuma revealed that the plant will be the first in Africa to both purify sewage into clean water and convert solid waste into power.
According to the firm, two drainage canals running through the slum will convey wastewater to the plant, while young people will be awarded contracts to deliver solid waste, said project leader Tsuma.
The plant’s planned power capacity is 8MW of electricity, which will be produced using biogas from solid waste. It also expected to produce 6,000 tonnes of methane annually that will be sold for cooking.
The plant’s purification technology utilises anaerobic digestion where raw sewage is collected in a big tank, and then filtered and taken through a chemical procedure to eliminate unsafe bacteria. Treated water will be provided free to Kibera residents, noted Tsuma.
The solid waste in the sewage water will be used to generate biogas, while the liquid part is purified, Tsuma said. “Even the awful smell is removed, and so clean drinking water is produced,” she noted.
