G.C. FED/2013/330-236

Energy, health, agricultural and environmental benefits from biochar use: building capacities in ACP countries

BiocharPlus outcomes: feasibility study in Zimbabwe Biochar Systems for Africa International Workshop: Tuesday 1st March, Conference Hall ICRAF, Nairobi (Kenya)

Chipo Shonhiwa Bindura University of Science Eduacation(Zimbabwe)

ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Science and Technology II

Outline  Background  Objectives of the prefeasibility study

 Biomass electricity and biochar production technologies  Relevant (agro-) industrial sectors in Zimbabwe  Opportunities for rural electrification and industrial facilities  Lessons learnt from existing biomass electricity projects in Zimbabwe  Project pipeline

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Background  Zimbabwe’s installed electrical power capacity has been stagnant at about 2 000 MW for more than 2 decades  The electrical power utility company (Zimbabwe Power Company) has failed to meet the growing demand for electricity (2 100 MW: 2009 assessment)  Of late, the effective capacity has greatly reduced: (1 000 MW at times)  Excessive electrical power imports have been reduced due to economic challenges facing the

country.  This has resulted in increased load shedding in all parts of the country

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Background  Increased tree cutting for firewood

 But lots of biomass residue is produced on daily basis

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Objectives of the pre-feasibility study 1. Determining the electricity production potential of agro-industries biomass residue for rural electrification and increased access to electricity in urban areas of Zimbabwe 2. Identify companies, ownership and contacts. 3. Assessing the current status of the existing bioelectricity projects including an analysis of technical and non-technical problems, and documentation of lessons learned 4. Providing a pipeline of bioelectricity projects, including basic technical and financial key indicators.

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Biomass electricity and biochar production technologies Biomass residue

Thermo-chemical conversion Ligno-cellulosic

(gasification, pyrolysis, combustion) Bio-chemical conversion

Carbohydrate

(bio-gasification, fermentation) Chemical conversion

Oils

(esterification)

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Biomass electricity and biochar production technologies conti… Thermochemical

Process

Combustion

Gasificasion

Products

CO2 + H2O + Ash

Gas + Ash

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Pyrolysis

Biochar + Gas + Oil

Relevant (agro-) industrial sectors in Zimbabwe

 Five major agro-ecological regions 1. Specialised and diversified farming 2. Intensive farming 3. Semi-intensive 4. Semi-extensive farming 5. Extensive farming  Crop production 1. Different residues are produced from different crops. These include stover, straw, cobs, bagasse and hulls 2. Residue management systems are practised on different farms>  feeding animal (e.g. stover and straw),  burning them to destroy pests (e.g. cotton husks and stalks),  burying them into the soil to increase soil fertility (straw and groundnuts hulls),  burning them to obtain energy for cooking purposes (e.g. cobs) and  burning them for electricity production (e.g. bagasse). 3. 7.08 Mt crop residues is sustainably available annually for production electricity This provides 64.3 PJ of energy.

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Relevant (agro-) industrial sectors in Zimbabwe conti…  Fruits production 1. Fruits are mainly produced in region I along the Eastern Highlands and the northern part of the country. 2. The quantity of residue depends on the species of the tree and the activity producing it. 3. A total of 0.24 Mt biomass residue annually , which provides 2.20 PJ of energy.  Animal husbandry 1. Large amounts of domestic animals kept in both rural and commercial farming areas in the country 2. Residue in the form of manure plus that from slaughterhouses and meat processing 3. A total of 1.95 Mt biomass residue, which provides 34.0 PJ of energy.  Timber industry 1. The timber industry is found mainly in region I. 2. The forestry plantations are comprised of 81 000 ha of pine, 24 000 ha of eucalyptus and 13 000 ha of wattle. (0.8 Mt , 12. 10 PJ)  Municipality Solid Residue (MSR) 1. Comprises street sweepings, household, institutional, commercial and industrial residues (needs separation: 0.63 Mt 2.7 PJ) BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Opportunities for rural electrification and industrial facilities  Prevailing success factors  Disposal of unwanted biomass residue challenges  More than 90% of the rural population still have no access to electricity  A dramatic increase in electricity tariff rates after the introduction of prepaid meters over the

past four years (resulted in increase in electricity selling price from 4 to 7 c/kWh)  Increased unpredictability of electricity supply due to long periods of unscheduled load shedding in grid connected areas.

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Opportunities for rural electrification and industrial facilities conti…  Technical Feasibility of biomass electricity production in Zimbabwe  Taking into account the accessibility of biomass residue, residue from the timber industry is

most appropriate for producing bio- electricity because most of the residue is available in large quantities at one point.  Over 10 sites provide more than 5 th-1 readily available at one point where electricity can be generated without purchasing and with no transport cost on biomass residue  Most of the residue from the sawmills is already dry and in relatively small pieces and this reduces the amount of energy required for the pre-treatment of the feedstock.

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Biomass electricity and biochar production potential  Economics and competitiveness of biomass electricity in Zimbabwe  About 90% of the residue is available at the sawmill premises. An extra 10% residue can be sustainably collected from the plantation forest: Greatly reduces biomass transportation cost  Since there is no competing use for the residue, it is provided for free for electricity production.  The investment cost for extending the grid is avoided since the sawmills are already connected to the grid.  By producing electricity at the sawmill using their own biomass residue, the organisations are guaranteed of continuous supply of electricity and hence productivity would be increased.  The biochar will be sold to farmers to boost cash inflows. The use of biochar in the crop farming sector would in turn give farmers a higher yield resulting in an improved national economy. BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Biomass electricity and biochar production potential  Barriers for the introduction of biomass electricity technologies  High initial investment costs for the set up of electricity producing plants;  Relatively low electricity purchase price by ZPC leading to low investment and poor service

delivery.  Coal is available locally, therefore people might not realise the need of moving away from this abundant resource  Due to poor economic conditions prevailing in the country, there has been high brain drain and migration to neighbouring countries and overseas of experienced/qualified individuals

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Lessons learnt from existing biomass electricity projects in Zimbabwe  Currently two companies are producing electricity from biomass 1. Green Fuel (Pvt) Limited (18 MW) 2. Tongaat and Hulett Company (Triangle Sugar Limited: 35.5 MW and Hippo Valley Estates: 46 MW).  There is need for an agreement on a competitive electricity selling price between Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC: power utility) and the independent power producers (IPP) before the

start of the project.  There is need for engaging Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) in price negotiations by IPPs to agree on a cost effective price.

 To continue utilising the biomass residue at full capacity, certain plant equipment replacement costs need to be taken into account when planning to invest in biomass electricity.  The Build, Operate and Transfer system (BOTs) can be used for setting up biomass electricity

producing technologies

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Project pipeline  Several projects have been listed in the pipeline so that they can be implemented if resources permit. 3 of them listed below Site

Available biomass (kty-1)

Electricity plant capacity (MWe)

Onsite

Offsite

Nyanga Pine

41.16

4.35

7.00

Erin

36.01

3.81

6.5

Charter

144

22

33.8

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The Nyanga Pine plant Technical specifications Symbol

Description

Unit

Value

Pe

Power (electrical) of the installation

MWe

6.50

OH

Operational time

hy-1

7000.00

ηe

Engine eff

%

37.50

LHVp oil

Lower heating value of pyrolysis oil

MJL-1

16.50

ρ

Mass density of pyrolysis oil

kgL-1

1.20

ρenergy

Energy density of pyrolysis oil

MJkg-1

13.75

Oilreq ton

Oil required

kty-1

31.77

Yoil

Weight fraction of dry biomass converted into pyrolysis oil during pyrolysis

% wt

0.70

ybiomass/hr

Required biomass

th-1

6.48

Ep

Energy produced

kWh

45,500,000.00

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Initial investment cost

Fluidized bed pyrolysis reactor Fast pyrolysis reactor, feeding system liquids recovery Storage costs of the pyrolysis oil Liquid storage tanks, transfer pumps Internal combustion engine Dual fuel diesel engine and generator Biomass pretreatment and storage Biomass storage, compressor and dryers, heat-recovery dryer Essential investment components (A)

Cost 9,368,694.57

219,409.63 5,246,557.02 3,292,422.56

8,758,389.21

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Initial investment cost conti… PIPING: firefighting components, industrial water tank, heat exchanger, control valves, pipes Grid connection: switches electric protections transformer electrical equipment assembling Civil works Direct installation cost Auxiliary services Instrumentation and controls Site preparation Total direct plant costs (DC) Total indirect plant costs (IC) Total capital investment (TCI)

832,286.45 2,341,341.90

3,238,547.09 2,627,516.76 1,313,758.38 875,838.92 875,838.92 20,863,517.65 724,332.96 21,587,850.61

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Operational costs Cost variables OPERATING COSTS Variable costs Staff costs

Cost (US$)

Pretreatment cost of drying and cutting biomass

1,137,952.94

Transport cost of dry biomass

1,873,990.59

Purchase price of water Total variable costs Fixed costs: Maintenance, insurance Total Costs

30,000.00

210,521.29 3,222,464.82 3,238,177.59 6,490,642.41

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Revenue from plant Variables and explanation Energy needs of auxiliary pieces of equipment

Unit kWh

Net energy available for sale (kWhy-1) Revenue from sale of electricity Revenues from the sales of green current certificates

kWhy-1 US$ US$

Market price for green current certificates $MWh-1

US$MWh-1

Purchase price of electricity Plant power consumption Electricity not purchased Avoided cost of electricity Revenue from sale of biochar Specific cost of biochar

US$kWh-1 MW purchased US$ US$ US$t-1

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

1,547,072.47 43,952,927.53 3,076,704.93 4,862,585.00 106.87 0.14 2 17,520,000.00 2,452,800.00 1,179,927.27 130

Financial analysis Net present value

US$

35,456,973.04

Discount rate after taxes Project duration in years Cash flow in year n

% y US$

10 20 4,862,803,789.78

Revenues in year n

US$

6,700,463.58

Revenue from sale of biochar

US$

1,179,927.27

Revenues from the sales of electricity

US$

3,076,704.93

Revenues from the sales of green current certificates

US$

4,862,585.00

Revenues from avoided electricity purchase

US$

2,452,800.00

Expenditure in year n

US$

6,490,642.41

Fixed costs

US$

3,238,177.59

Variable costs

US$

3,222,464.82

Staff costs

US$

30,000.00

Initial net investment

US$

21,587,850.61

Total investment costs

US$

21,587,850.61

NPV without sell of green certificates: $31,036,441.22 Payback period: 5.5 years (4.5 years) BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Next step  Feasibility study • Business plan • Identification of entrepreneur

• Negotiating power purchase agreement • Identification of financier

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya

Thanks for your attention ! BiocharPlus contacts: [email protected] [email protected] or [email protected] Skype: chipo.shonhiwa Mobile phone

+263 779550393

This presentation will be available at the website:

https://sites.google.com/site/biocharplusproject/

BiocharPlus Tuesday, 1st March 2016 Nairobi, Kenya