Nairobi: Waste-to-energy company Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS) has secured funding to drive industrial decarbonisation in the challenging Kenyan tea sector as part of one of the first five projects in a new United Nations initiative.
According to Kenya News Agency, this multimillion-pound funding has been awarded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) Accelerate-to-Demonstrate (A2D) facility, with additional financial backing from the private sector.
The three-year project will see CSS construct a 500KW MicroHub for a tea factory in Kenya, in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Supivaa Advisory Group. Kenya’s tea industry, which generates £1 billion annually, is currently threatened by an unreliable and costly electricity grid, forcing producers to rely on diesel generators for power and wood for heat. Rising fertilizer costs, degrading soil fertility, and increasing droughts further challenge farm yields and profitability, compounded by falling global tea prices.
Paul Willacy, CEO of Compact Syngas Solutions, expressed that the United Nations funding is a significant advancement for the company and has the potential to revolutionize the Kenyan tea industry, which supplies a substantial portion of global tea consumption. Willacy highlighted the challenges posed by the power supply issues in Kenya and explained that their MicroHub would offer a straightforward solution for factories aiming to decarbonize.
CSS has developed an advanced gasification process using high-carbon biomass, including tea prunings, to generate syngas-a blend of hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide and monoxide. The syngas serves as a greener fuel alternative, reducing carbon emissions significantly when compared to diesel and fuelwood. The carbonized biomass, or biochar, produced in the process, provides additional benefits to tea producers by enhancing soil productivity, reducing fertilizer use, and sequestering carbon dioxide, which can lead to tradable emission credits.
The project is expected to create numerous job opportunities, with each 500KWH plant requiring up to ten skilled technical and operational workers, along with ten additional roles in fabrication and support, leading to approximately 300 jobs in Kenya within five years. The initiative will also incorporate digital technology to track the biomass supply chain and carbon footprint, ensuring environmental sustainability and optimizing energy and heat recovery.
The project includes efforts to promote gender inclusivity within the engineering sector, as only 7% of Kenya’s engineers are women. Supivaa-Co-REGEN will organize site visits and assess the project’s financial and environmental impacts, while the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture will oversee the biomass supply chain and biochar application, ensuring compliance with environmental and social guidelines, and advising on carbon credit registration.
The success of the project in Kenya is expected to pave the way for expansion into Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa, with potential global adoption. In addition to this project, CSS recently received nearly £4 million in government funding to enhance its biomass and waste-to-hydrogen plants with carbon capture technology.
Hugo Douglas-Dufresne, Technical Director of Browns Plantations Kenya, expressed enthusiasm about the potential benefits of the CSS gasification plant, stating that if successful, the plant could be hosted in one of their factories in Kericho district, aligning with their commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability.