Tokyo Cement goes for 6MW biomass dendro power project with Rs. 1.5 b investment

Tokyo Cement Group is embarking on a 6 MW Dendro Power Project at Mahiyangana through its wholly owned subsidiary Tokyo Cement Power (Lanka) Ltd., with an investment of Rs. 1.5 billion.

An agreement connected to the project was signed by the Company and Ceylon Electricity Board yesterday.

Friom left:  CEB General Manager Nihal Wickramasuriya, Board Member & Working Director P. Gunasena,  Chairman Prof. W. Abeywickrema, Tokyo Cement Jt Managing Directors S. R. Gnanam, K. Yanagihara, General Manager Christopher Fernando, and Power & Renewable Energy General Manager E. Kugapriya at the signing of the agreement yesterday

A spokesman for Tokyo Cement group said the venture was under the Government’s thrust towards renewable energy and encouragement for greater private sector participation in energy generation.

The entire production of this plant will be supplied to the National Grid.

This Biomass Dendro power generating project is to be located on a 2.5 ha land close to the Mahaweli River at Anguruwagala village, Bathalayaya, at Mahiyangana, Divisional Secretariat Division of Uva Province. The estimated cost of this project is approximately Rs. 1.5 billion and will be partly financed by internally generated funds of Tokyo Cement group. Construction of the Plant will span over a period of eighteen (18) months.

The new venture is in addition to Tokyo Cement’s 10 MW capacity biomas power plant at Trincomalee set up in 2008 with an investment of Rs. 2.4 billion.

The company said for the new project Gliricidia plantation and out-growers promotion will be started early 2012 whilst ground work of the project is expected to commence by October 2011. Construction is expected to take 18 months and the plant will be commissioned by mid-2013.

The project proponent expects to outsource chopped Gliricidia wood mainly from out-growers. The company will install mechanical chippers and waste driers to control the uniformity and increase the quality of fuel. Use of good quality uniform fuel will greatly reduce the fuel consumption by the power plant and produce net annual electricity generation (at 85% efficiency) around 37,230,000 kWh.

Tokyo Cement said gliricidia has a significant income generating potential as a fuel-wood for dendro power projects. Due to energy crisis in the world, the cost of supplying fuel for generating thermal energy for industries is very high. “If we could fulfill the energy needs of the country through the use of Gliricidia, that will save a considerable amount of foreign exchange and will generate employment at the village level,” the spokesman said.

The company believes Gliricidia planting would empower the rural communities and develop the land on a sustainable basis and it will be of immense significance to the development of such regions to develop sustainable land use system and thereby the wellbeing of resource-lacking farming communities.