Cuba“Crazy Plant becomes Treasure”Story! - Biofuel Power Generation

Along the 1200km road across Cuba from east to west, we can often see a kind of endless wild shrub, which is called “marabú” by local people. This shrub was originally from Africa and used for ornamental purposes, as there are no natural enemies, they grow wild in the open spaces. Over the past 20 years, they have invaded nearly 2 million hectares of unused farmland, stubbornly rooted, and they have become a major obstacle to the development of agriculture in Cuba.

Now, the Biopower, a Biological Energy Company invested by Cuba, China and the UK, not only lets “marabú” have the use value, brought renewable energy to Cuba, where energy is desperately scarce, but also solved a great obstacle to agricultural development.

Power plant beside the sugar factory

Biopower is a British start-up company, acquired investment from China Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited later, thus China became the controlling shareholder.According to the tripartite agreement signed by Cuba,China, and UK , The company will build 5 biomass power plants in cuba, The first power plant was laid down in April, investing nearly $186 million, provided and been responsible for the construction by Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited, it was built beside a namesake sugar factory in Redondo town which is about 450 kilometers from the capital Havana.

The unique feature of biofuel power plants is turning waste into treasure,it can use not only the wild “marabú”, but also the bagasse which is left after the sugar factory extrude sugar. In the sugar making season (from January to May), Redondo power plant uses cane bagasse to generate electricity, and other months use the branch of“marabú”to generate electricity. It is expected that the factory will provide 60 kwh of electricity for cuba.

Sugar industry was the king of Cuban industry, Cuba sugar production has been more than 5 million tons for decades, ranking first in the world sugar production. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 90s of last century, Cuba's sugar exports suffered heavy losses, and then the sugar industry suffered a great shock, The originally flourishing sugar factories were idled and closed, and the operating sugar mills dropped from 156 to 56, barren sugarcane fields around these idle sugar plants were quickly occupied “marabú”.

“We choose the Cuban sugar as a partner, can guarantee a large number of “marabú”shrub resources around the factory. It's also reasonable from a business point of view. First of all, sufficient raw materials can be guaranteed. Secondly, the 15 kilometer railway around the sugar factory canbe used by the sugar factory, it is convenient to transport sugarcan in the sugae making season.” Said by Zhengyue Chen, the CFO of Biopower, he is also the senior investment manager of Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited.

According to the plan, the first power plant of the joint venture will be connected to the grid by the end of 2019,it can consume 2100 tons of bagasse and 1200 tons of “marabú” at that time. Forecasted by Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited, those“marabú”that spreads within a radius of 15 kilometers around the factory is enough for 15 years project of the factory.

According to Chen Zhengyue estimates, once the joint venture company's 5 power plants complete the power generation, the total power generation will reach 300 kwh, equivalent to 10% of Cuba's basic electricity. According to the lower oil price standard , 60 megawatts per year can save 50 million dollars of crude oil purchase cost, and 300 kwh will save 250 million U. S. dollars. Undoubtedly, this is a great contribution to cuba.

Get rid of overseas energy dependence

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's long-term energy support collapsed instantly. Since 2003, the Cuban energy system has begun to rely heavily on Venezuela's crude oil at preferential prices, Venezuela once daily supplies 120 thousand barrels of crude oil to cuba. However, in 2014, Venezuela's domestic economic crisis led to a sudden drop in crude oil supply to Cuba, up to 55 thousand barrels per day, it forced the Cuban government to adjust its energy structure and find alternative energy sources to address the urgent need.

At present, Cuba's own energy production can only meet less than half of the country's demand. The Cuban oil union produces nearly 4 million tons of crude oil annually, mainly supplying fuel for the old power plants. In addition, 97% of the country's natural gas production is used for power generation and household gas. However, due to the overall shortage of energy, power outages can be described as normal.

In the field of power supply, increasing the proportion of clean energy and renewable energy has become one of the important goals for the Caribbean island countries to get rid of overseas energy dependence and increase their own energy supply. According to the goal set by the Cuban energy development strategy, by 2030, the proportion of renewable energy power generation in Cuba will increase from 4% to 24%.

It is reported that “marabú” is a kind of high density, low humidity hardwood, ideal for combustion. Power output of burning 3 tons of “marabú” is equivalent to 1 tons of fuel oil. Bagasse is biomass waste produced in the process of extruding sugar, use the “marabú” and bagasse to generate power can not only reduce cost, it is also renewable, environmentally friendly.

Cuba sugar company replaced Cuba sugar division in 2011, responsible for the production of sugar and power generation of its derivatives and sugar field. Camilo Hernandez, the director of the company in charge of external affairs said that one of the goals of the Cuban sugar industry is to ensure that renewable energy is used in the production of sugar, in the next few years, they will seek foreign partners, they are looking for partners who can join the Cuban sugar industry in industry integration, development and modernization, because their existing sugar mills are very old and need to be renewed.

He said that there are 56 renewable energy investment projects in Cuban sugar industry, each project corresponds to a sugar mill, of which 25 plants will use biomass power generation.“Our goal is that by 2030, 24% of the country's total electricity will come from renewable energy, while 14% of electricity   will come from  electricity generation of sugar plants.”Hernandez said.

Cuba sugar industry data show that the current biomass power generation in Cuba renewable energy power generation accounted for the largest.Once the project takes place, only the capital Havana can save nearly 960 thousand tons of fuel per year, while reducing 3650000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Promote diversified development

Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited has 60 years of experience in power construction, involving nuclear power, thermal power, wind power and solar power generation and other fields. “Renewable energy is one of the directions that Shanghai Electric Group is committed to.Cuba's special geographical environment and natural state are very important opportunities for the development of renewable energy. We attach great importance to the Cuban market.Cuba is short of power resources, and the biofuel is not only environmental friendly, but also a great boost to Cuba's economic development.In addition, it can provide more employment and development possibilities for the town."Qin Yizeng said in the groundbreaking ceremony of Redondo town power plan, he is the executive director of Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited.

Biopower deputy general manager, Carmen Toboada said that using “marabú” to generate electricity, can not only solve the problem of energy, reduce the consumption of fossil fuel, but also make large tracts of land for planting sugarcane and other crops.Toboada also said that the new plant will directly employ about 50 people, and will employ 50 to 100 people to cut down and clear “marabú”.

It is reported that, Biopower has invested millions of dollars to research the use of “marabú”. After the heating process of biomass pyrolysis, “marabú”can be made into activated carbon package, which can be used for the adsorption of pollutants, filtered water or remove the caffeine in coffee, and the value of activated carbon is as high as 2400 dollars per ton. Biopower is planning to use activated carbon as a byproduct of biological power generation, in order to create more value for the local region.

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