Equilibre is proud to have been a pioneer in the first successful combustion trial of Arundo Donax, whereby electricity was successfully exported to the Mauritius national grid in April 2016 for a continuous 10 hour period. This has resulted in a proven combustion model that demonstrates the effectiveness of Arundo Donax as a coal replacement.
The University of Mauritius prepared a Combustion Trial Report independently:
- This report gives a synthesis of the results obtained for the combustion trial of Arundo Donax biomass crop at one of the major Independent Power Producer Group in Mauritius.
- Equilibre Bioenergy Production Ltd, a private promoter, supplied around 100 metric tons of baled Arundo Donax biomass having average moisture content of less than 10%.
- Prior to combustion for electricity generation, the biomass supplied was prepared using existing and adapted equipment of the front-end process of the IPP Group factory.
- The prepared Arundo Donax biomass was then successfully co-combusted with coal for a period of 10 hours and no technical problems was met during the test period.
- The stack emission monitoring test or flue gas analysis performed by the Air Monitoring Unit of the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority (MCIA) when Arundo Donax was co-combusted with coal showed that all emissions were within prescribed norms and regulations.
- A total of about 64,000 kWh of electricity was exported to the grid by processing the ‘as received’ Arundo Donax biomass and the productivity of electricity from the crop was estimated to be 870 kWh/tonne biomass based on the operating configuration and conditions of the IPP power plant (45 bars boiler pressure and 440oC).
- The successful industrial attempt of electricity production from Arundo Donax biomass opened the way for an alternative and clean energy option for power generation in Mauritius and elsewhere.
- The agricultural production and supply of Arundo Donax biomass crop and its conversion into electricity has the potential to create new income opportunity for the planters’ community including novel openings for different categories of operators in the supply chain and power plant promoters in the agricultural and energy sectors.