Remote village produces its own power

Martine Kariongi speaks at the biodiesel power plant in Terrat, Simanjiro.

Nairobi; Kenya: In the wilderness of Simanjiro in Manyara Region, Tanzania, lies the township of Terrat, a humble hamlet probably unknown to many outside Tanzania but which stands out because it produces its own electricity from biofuel.

It is a dry area that lacks clean water just like rural Kajiado and much of North Eastern Kenya.

The power plant produces energy which supplies a large-scale cheese making plant owned by the local community.

Nasinyari Marko, the milk processing manager at the cheese factory, says without the station, the cheese plant would not have been set up because energy is needed to process milk and preserve the cheese.

Since the area is remote and does not get electricity from national supplier Tanzania Electric Supply Company, the Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement (IOPA) decided to produce and supply power for its ventures in the area as well as to the surrounding community.

Martin Kariongi, the company chief executive officer says the electricity plant, which currently supplies at least 116 households, runs solely on biofuel mainly produced from seeds of the Croton megalocarpus plant, commonly known as mukinduri in Kenya, plus jatropha.

The cheese plant employs 18 people, mostly locals who have been trained by the institute, while the cheese factory employs 55 direct staff. About 500 women supply milk to the cheese project.

To increase efficiency as well as cut costs, the organisation processes its own biodiesel at the plant.

As proof that there is viability in the use of biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels, the electricity production plant has about four generators which are yet to run at full capacity, because the number of consumers is still relatively low compared to the power produced by the generators.

The largest generator consumes about 130 litres of biodiesel in ten hours while the second one consumes about 110 litres in the same duration. The plant has about 135,000 litres of fuel.

A 70kg sack of seeds is processed to produce about 29 litres of biofuel, which is then refined to produce about 20 litres of biodiesel. The plant buys seeds at Tsh300 (Sh15); therefore for each 70kg sack, the farmer earns Sh1,120. 

Reducing emissions

In the production of biodiesel, there are beneficial by-products such as glycerine. The residue after the seeds are crushed is used to make fertiliser as well as produce biogas which is used to heat water.

The largest consumer of power produced by the plant is IOPA itself which has a number of other activities that are run on behalf of the community.

Within the plant there is a borehole that pumps water for the community and the water is sold at Tsh50 which is about Sh2 for every 20 litre jerry can.

This reliance on biodiesel comes at a time when the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels to other forms of renewable energy.

rising prices

The United States’ Department of Energy states that biodiesel cuts out the emission of sulphur in the atmosphere while also reducing the emissions of carbon monoxide and smog-producing particulate matter by half; biodiesel also reduces the emissions of hydrocarbons by up to 90 per cent.

The Energy Regulatory Commission of Kenya notes that currently, biomass energy is the focus of attention due to dwindling global resources of fossil fuels and rising prices.

The commission says since 2006 when consumption of petrol and diesel were 1.4 and 3.3 million litres per day, consumption of fossil fuels has been on the increase at a rate of 2.8 per cent per year.

It is expected that by 2030, Kenya will need 2.7 and 6.5 million litres of petrol and diesel for consumption every day.

With fossil fuel reserves in the world dwindling even as prices hike, alternative sources of renewable energy have to be thought out.