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wiredInUSA - September 2015
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Africa's first grid-connected anaerobic
digestion plant has been opened in Kenya.
Developed by Tropical Power Energy Group,
the2.2MWGorgeFarmEnergyPark, inKenya's
Nakuru county, will use local crop waste to
create biogas for electricity generation.
KinuthiaMbugua, governor of Nakurucounty,
said the project would provide a boost to the
country's energy security. “The Gorge Farm
Energy Park is a showcase project for Nakuru,
Kenya and the African continent,” he said
in a statement. “Distributed power projects
are vital to our energy security, reliability and
efficiency, and the park will be using local
crop waste and the sun to generate clean,
renewable power close to the point of use. I
look forward to working with Tropical Power,
Kenya Power and the ministry of energy and
petroleum to see how we can develop more
biogas projects for organic and municipal
waste in the country.”
The energy plant will also be used as a
research facility for scientists at Oxford
University, who will study the facility to
identify ways of advancing the technology
to compete with conventional fossil fuel
power generation.
Tropical Power has revealed plans to add
10MW of solar energy capacity at the same
site next year. The company is in the final
stages of fundraising and planning for the
proposed solar development, and hopes to
begin work within the next 12 months.
ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
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