Uganda: Kampala's Garbage Could Solve Household Power Shortage

AllAfrica.com
(Kampala)
15 August John Kasozi

THEY have gone everywhere, knocked at the doors of every office that matters. Finally, they have written three letters to see the President. But still in vain. Sesam Energetics 1, a Kampala-based private company in conjunction with Taylor Biomass Energy USA, wants to generate 33 megawatts (MW) from urban biodegradable waste, under the Taylor Biomass Energy project. But their effort to secure the standardised power purchase agreement (PPA) on pricing with the President, has come to a standstill.

According to the Government's Renewable Energy Policy, 2006 looks at biomass-fired cogeneration, wind, peat, geothermal and solar as small hydropower plants that generate less than 20MW that do not warrant PPA.

Dr. Noah Maalanti, Sesam's chief executive officer says they are to generate a minimum of 33MW above the small-scale power projects. "This is why we are looking at the presidential mediation to waive the project from complete subjection to the current Renewable Energy Policy. The policy has rigidly stipulated feed-in-tariffs, regardless of the technology implemented and socio-economic benefits generated by the project," he explains.

Godfrey Ndawula, the assistant commissioner for new and renewable source of energy in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, says the policy states that the significance of this type of PPA is that it makes the business predictable by removing market uncertainty, fastens negotiations with the developer and dramatically cuts down the transaction costs.

He adds that the ministry powers stop on the gazetted 20MW. "Above that amount is left to the Parliament and the President to decide." Sesam falls within standardised feed-in-tariff, that is a rate at which the transmission company buys electricity from the power-generating company. The feed-in-tariff is part of the standardised PPA. The tariff should be able to translate into cash revenue that will not require the investor to resort to a capital subsidy according to the policy.

Sam Julius Lukwago, Sesam's executive director, says they would like to negotiate a special rate that would make them collect garbage at no cost. "We want our power purchased at between $90-$120 per megawatt if our operations are to be sustainable, but this is still subject to negotiation," he said. Lukwago said because they are going to generate more than 20MW, they chose to see the President since "taking it to Parliament is a long process."

He says there are invaluable benefits for Uganda. "With presidential support to help conclude the long-term PPA with Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) and Waste Management Contract (WMC) with Kampala City Council (KCC), could fish Uganda out of many problems."

"We are also looking at other waivers and support that may arise in the process of project execution. If all had been cleared last year, the 33MW would be enjoyed during the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in November. The energy crisis would be nearing its end," says Lukwago.

Kiteezi landfill is nearing the end of its lifespan. It has less than one-and-a-half years to reach its full capacity according to the KCC Solid Waste Management Strategy, October 2006 Report.
Projections made for the next 10 years indicate that Kampala population figures would be over four million. The population is increasing at 3.7% per annum. At that time, 60,000 metric tonnes of waste will be generated monthly from the current 42,000 metric tones, meaning a daily generation of over 1,400.

The report further shows that the rate of daily waste collections is at 35%. This implies that 65% is not currently collected. The refuse composition stands at 10.7% paper and board, glass 1.8%, metal 0.4%, plastic 11.8%, organics 74%, textiles 0.9%, construction and special care waste at 0.4%.

The waste stream for metal has decreased as a result of establishment of several steel rolling mills using scrap as a major input. The organic waste stream is still the largest and is bound to remain so for a long time. Sesam did studies to see the how Kiteezi landfill could be useful to Ugandans in energy generation, comprising the biggest percentage of biodegradable wastes.
The studies indicate that the energy project shall be able to generate a minimum of 33MW of electricity enough for over 30,000 households daily, from a minimum waste feed stock of 710 metric tonnes.

Maalanti says the project could be upgraded to 70MW depending on the efficiency of the waste collection system in place. "It is estimated that Uganda will have a peak demand between 411MW and 649MW by 2010. The power generation of 317MW is inadequate."

In addition, the project has a potential to provide several other unparalleled benefits to the country. These include replacements for natural gas and petroleum-based products with the potential to offset millions of barrels of imported oil. Wastes will be recycled and reduce dependence on landfills. There will be reduction in deforestation due to over-dependence on charcoal and firewood for fuel.

There will be reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the landfill. The project is capable of generating close to $40 million (sh68b) in carbon credits to the country. Thus, it is to reduce losses caused by global warming on annual harvests like coffee.

Uganda is signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change the Kyoto Protocol. Uganda has already benefited from the sale of carbon credits at the Nyagak mini-hydro project $4m (sh48m) under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto protocol.
This is especially possible because carbon credits from methane are quite attractive, yet this is the gas that the project eliminates from the atmosphere. The gasification process to be utilised uses a true heat transference process and therefore produces next to no greenhouse gaseous emissions.

On top of that, over 1,500 permanent jobs will be created with an annual payroll of approximately sh65.8m. The annual government savings on landfill management are estimated sh1.7b. They would cause a reduction in health hazards related to poor solid waste disposal.
Sesam has already secured the technology through a reputable partner in the US, Taylor Biomass Energy, with whom a memorandum of understanding has been signed.

"Taylor is one of the major companies contacted to sort garbage of 500,000 metric tonnes from the World Trade Centre for forensic investigation," says Maalanti. He clarified that Taylor Proprietary Gasification Technology for generation of electricity applies a true heat transference process and therefore produces next to zero greenhouse gas emissions. "This is what differentiates the project from all the other technologies on the globe."

According to the memorandum of understanding, Sesam is to contribute land for a waste processing plant, long-term waste management contract and power purchase agreement and finance 25% project cost. Taylor has guaranteed technology and performance plus sourcing of 75% of the cost. On confirmation of their commitment, Taylor technocrats paid a visit to Uganda in March 2007. Sesam has obtained a lease for 100 acres of private mailo land in Lubya from the Buganda government, near the Kampala Northern Bypass high voltage wires and Namugoona sub-station.

An important basic feature of the overall system's environmental performance is that Taylor handles as a "solid" all those materials that are not appropriate for the energy process.
The processing of bulky waste not only reduces the volume of waste to be sent to a landfill, but also maximises the efficiency of transportation to the landfill and perhaps most importantly, minimises the amount of carbon converted to methane, which has 21-23 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

50% of biomass carbon is estimated to become methane when disposed of in a landfill.
Methane gas collection is often less than 40% of the total landfill gas emitted over a landfill's life. 75% of methane in the atmosphere comes from landfills. The garbage evaluation report for Kampala's central business district has established a collection cost of sh11,000 per tonne of waste needed. This means that KCC requires a monthly sum of sh462m to implement 100% refuse collection. The report shows that the district currently needs 800 skips and only 529 are in place and most of them are in a deplorable state. KCC has 31 very old refuse trucks. Each delivers a maximum of five tonnes per day.

KCC contracted the management of the Kiteezi Landfill to DOTT Services at a cost of sh9,600 per tonne. Considering that an average of 500 tonnes are handled daily, the average cost of managing the landfill is sh4.8m. Currently, the Government spends close to $1m (sh1.6b) per year to manage about 40% collected waste. The project is able to cut this cost by over 85% in the first five years of operation and could eliminate this cost after expansion of the gasifiers to consume 100% waste generated in the city. Only about 3% of the processed waste is eventually taken to the landfill.