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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Modeling the profitability of power production from short-rotation woody crops in Sub-Saharan Africa
Biomass and Bioenergy, Volume 59, Year 2013
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Description
Increasing electricity supply in Sub-Saharan Africa is a prerequisite to enable economic development and reduce poverty. Renewable sources such as wood-fueled power plants are being promoted for social, environmental and economic reasons. We analyzed an economic model of a vertically integrated system of short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) plantations coupled with a combined heat and power (CHP) plant under Sub-Saharan African conditions. We analyzed a 5MW (electric) base-case scenario under Ugandan conditions with a 2870ha Eucalyptus grandis plantation and a productivity of 12tha-1y-1 (oven dry basis) under a 5-year rotation. Plant construction and maintenance constituted 27% and 41% of total costs, respectively. Plantation productivity, carbon credit sales as well as land, fuel, labor & transport costs played an economic minor role. Highly influential variables included plant efficiency & construction costs, plantation design (spacing and rotation length) and harvest technologies. We conclude that growing 12-24tha-1y-1 at a five year rotation can produce IRR's of 16 and 19% over 30-years, respectively. Reducing rotation length significantly reduced short-term financial risk related to frontloaded costs and relatively late revenues from electricity sales. Long-term feed-in tariffs and availability of a heat market played a significant economic role. The base-case scenario's 30-year IRR dropped from 16% to 9% when a heat market was absent. Results suggest a leveling-off of economies-of-scale effects above 20MW (electric) installations. Implementation-related research needs for pilot activities should focus on SRWC productivity and energy life cycle analysis. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Buchholz, Thomas A.
United States, Burlington
The University of Vermont
Tennigkeit, Timm
Germany, Freiburg
Unique Forestry and Land use Gmbh
Weinreich, Axel
Germany, Freiburg
Unique Forestry and Land use Gmbh
Windhorst, Kai
Germany, Freiburg
Unique Forestry and Land use Gmbh
DaSilva, Izael
Kenya, Nairobi
Strathmore University
Statistics
Citations: 7
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.11.027
ISSN:
09619534
Research Areas
Environmental