January 26, 2016
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/lbQ9AU
Mayuge Sugar Industries Limited will in three months start the construction of a US$63.6 million sugarcane waste electricity generation plant, according to Uganda's Monitor newspaper.
Shareholders will contribute 35% of the money whereas the balance will be raised through debt financing. Once complete in two years, the plant will generate 23MW, which is equivalent to 2.6% of Uganda's current installed generation capacity.
The company will sell one unit of power to the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited at US$0.095.
But this wholesale tariff does not mean electricity users will pay lower power tariffs.
This is because most of the electricity on the national power grid is from Bujagali hydropower plant, which is the most expensive of Uganda's hydropower generation companies.
Speaking at a public hearing in Mayuge District last week, Mayuge Sugar Industries Limited's general manager Kanu Patel said they would need 10,000 tonnes of sugarcane daily for power generation.
Currently, up to 9,394 outgrowers supply the factory with 1.7 million metric tonnes of sugarcane annually.
Patel added: "At least 20,000 people will be getting work. Suppose one truck is loading cane in the field, the outgrower, a loader, the harvester, the transporter plus the turn boy will get jobs per one truck loading."
Dr Benon Mutambi, the Electricity Regulatory Authority chief executive officer, said since 2005 when Uganda experienced an acute power supply crisis, the government has focused on increasing power supply.
"We had to encourage anyone who can generate electricity to come and get a license from us and go and generate electricity from any source," Dr Mutambi said.
Ivan Kisembo, an engineer, explained that to generate electricity from sugarcane waste, the waste is put in a boiler, water added and the two boiled to generate steam. "The steam is channelled to a pressuriser and then used to turn turbines to generate electricity," Kisembo said.