POWER July 2020 - 14

GLOBAL MONITOR
which led a consortium that plans a 50MW
plant in the Biskra region. The project's
power purchase agreement set its
price at 6.9 cents/kWh.
Oil and gas companies that have operated
in Algeria, including the country's
own Sonatrach, along with Italy's Eni and
France's Total, have signed contracts for
solar power projects, though development
has been slow. Eni and Sonatrach
jointly built a 10-MW solar plant in 2017,
and have said they will expand their
joint solar ventures, with plans to build
arrays at oil and gas production sites.
Sonatrach's 2030 Vision plan calls for the
installation of 1.3 GW of solar generation
capacity at the company's oil and gas
sites, and it says solar power could " cover
80% of our [power] needs on site. "
Davis and Stockley both said having
large institutional investors, such as the
World Bank, become active in the country
would go a long way toward helping
Algeria meet its ambitious goals for
renewable power, including for Tafouk 1.
" In terms of the financing of solar PV,
and the scale of this ambition, there's a
big challenge around whether [this] project,
and the country as a whole, " can
find the needed funding, said Stockley.
Davis noted, " Rightly or wrongly, people
get a sense that it's an acceptable
project if there's World Bank involvement,
or other large institution. [Algeria]
still suffers from lots of unpleasant
headlines and nervousness. The World
Bank brings credibility. " The World Bank
since 2010 has had a strategic partnership
framework with Algeria, known as
Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS),
which the World Bank said are offered in
response to requests for support with
development priorities.
Loucif agreed that having international
banks on board with project development
is key for countries such as Algeria.
" The IFIs [International Finance Corp.,
African Development Bank, French
AFD, etc.] generally provide states and
developers of renewable energy projects
with suitable financing structures
(mixing loans and grants) on attractive
terms, " she said. " To accelerate the development
of projects, the country will
have to make an effort to adapt, simplify,
and speed up the granting of licenses,
authorizations and permits by public authorities.
Here the collaboration with IFIs
could be very helpful for the country. For
example, IFC's Scaling Solar Program is
a 'one stop shop' program [combining
financing and regulatory auditing] aimed
to make privately funded grid-connected
14
solar projects operational within two
years and at competitive tariffs. "
-Darrell Proctor is associate
editor for POWER.
Cuba's First Biomass-Fired Power
Plant Inaugurated
The first biomass-fired power plant in
Cuba-located adjacent to Ciro Redondo
sugar mill in the central province of
Ciego de Ávila-recently synchronized
its two boilers to the grid. The 60-MW
plant is expected to provide about 50%
of the province's power demand.
The first stone for the plant was
symbolically placed in April 2017 by
ambassadors from the UK and China.
Construction began in March 2018. The
original schedule projected commercial
operation by November 2019, but Hurricane
Irma delayed completion. The first
boiler erected was tested for 72 hours
in mid-January, generating about 1,550
MWh and consuming about 2,120 tons
of marabou during the period. The unit
was first synchronized to the national
grid on March 16. The second boiler was
synchronized to the grid on April 24. Currently,
both boilers are operating satisfactorily,
and the last work on road systems
and administrative buildings is expected
to be completed this year.
The plant will supply steam (about 122
tons/hour) and all the electricity needed
by the sugar mill (about 8 MW), while
the remnant power will be delivered to
the national grid. The facility is capable of
consuming about 2,100 tons of bagasse
and 1,200 to 1,500 tons of marabou
every day. It is expected to save about
100,000 barrels of oil per year and the
emission of about 300 tons of carbon dioxide
(CO2) annually.
The plant is expected to consume
marabou biomass from June to November,
and sugarcane bagasse from December
to May, which will be supplied
by the sugar mill along with condensate.
This will eliminate the emanation of
bagacillo, an organic byproduct generated
in the surroundings of the sugar mill
that affects the community neighboring
the sugar plant.
The plant was erected at a cost of about
$180 million from an association between
the British company Havana Energy and
the Cuban company Zerus, part of the
Azcuba group, thus creating a mixed enterprise
named BioPower S.A., which is
assigned to administrate the plant. The
Chinese company Shanghai Electric was
designated for engineering, procurement,
construction, and startup of the facility. The
Chinese specialists will continue operating
the plant along with Cuban personnel for
two years, until the guarantee period expires,
according to the signed contract.
About 325 Chinese specialists and technicians
labored during the construction
phases, while near 200 Cuban workers
and 40 engineers of different specialty areas
were involved in the task. This is the
first time that Cuba has generated electricity
from marabou biomass. There are plans
to erect another 18 units adjacent to the
same number of sugar mills across the
country by 2030 (Figure 6), with a total capacity
of 755 MW.
Currently, there are two units under
construction in Cuba. One is near the
Jesús Rabí sugar mill in Matanzas province
(20 MW) and the other is adjacent to
the Hector Rodríguez sugar factory in Villa
Clara province (20 MW). A 50-MW facility
is expected to start construction later this
year next to the 30 de Noviembre sugar
mill in Artemisa province.
The sugar industry produces its own
fuel, which is considered renewable and
environmentally friendly because CO2
generated from burning bagasse was
originally absorbed by the sugar cane
6. The locations and sizes of biomass-fired power plants planned for construction in Cuba by
2030 are shown on this map adjacent to the sugar mill that will supply them with fuel. Courtesy:
Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines, and AZCUBA
www.powermag.com
POWER | July 2020

http://www.powermag.com

POWER July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER July 2020