Skeldon power plant scouting for biomass
-following loss of estate bagasse
With the loss of bagasse following the closure of the Skeldon sugar estate, Skeldon Energy Inc (SEI) is seeking new sources of biomass for its co-generation plant but a consultation it held on Thursday did not yield much success.
Moreover, SEI was criticised at the forum for using firewood while the country seeks to go green. Firewood has been in use since the start of the year. Questions were also raised at the forum about whether the decision to close the Skeldon estate at the end of 2017 had taken account of the impact on the power plant, which had been a vital part of the sugar modernisation project on the Corentyne.
The meeting, which was held at the training building in the estate’s compound, was chaired by Gobin Harbhajan, the Prime Minister’s Representative in Region Six. Also in attendance were Lloyd Rose, Chairman of SEI, Carl Duncan, Consultant/ Projects Manager of SEI and other top SEI officials along with over 40 Corentyne businesspersons and other stakeholders.
After the cogeneration plant was hived off by the government from GuySuCo in 2015 and SEI was created to run it, SEI purchased bagasse from the Skeldon Estate to fuel the power plant. With this source no longer available, potential suppliers of other biomass are now being sought. The persons gathered at Thursday’s meeting were told that by looking for potential suppliers SEI will ultimately create economic benefits within the community and jobs.
According to Harbhajan, overseas suppliers have shown interest in becoming suppliers. However, they are pushing for local persons to come on board, since it would be a good investment for them. He said a study was done in 2016 which showed that there are enough materials locally to be supplied to the plant.
Harbhajan, a former SEI board member, said “Cogeneration needs about 100,000 tonnes of biomass per year, so a man with a canter can make an honest living, sawmills does throw away most of these things and same thing with the rice farmers, people would now be able to bring it to the co-gen (plant) and when they work out the price and so etc. they can earn something. When people got to cut wood sometimes they leave pieces behind. They can now bring these and earn something too.”
He added that not only the Corentyne area can benefit but persons throughout the region.
He disclosed that SEI has been purchasing wood since January from persons in Baracara up the Berbice River and Mara Village, East Bank Berbice and other areas. He said an approximate price per tonne presently is $5, 500.
The gathering on Thursday was told that the company is offering $4,000 to $5, 000 per tonne for rice husk or rice straw. It was also stressed that the price is negotiable. Duncan said, “We cannot go beyond a certain amount because it becomes uneconomical for us... Why we would pay a little more than normal is because of the economic benefit it would create in the community. That’s why we are prepared to go a little higher than what we were paying for bagasse from Skeldon Estate.”
Persons gathered highlighted that the amount being paid per tonne for rice husk would not be economical for persons to supply when factoring in the transport costs.
Duncan responded by saying, “There has to be some mechanism for densifying it before you can transport it because we have already tested the transportation cost and not only the cost but the hazard of transporting.”
Those gathered noted that certain machinery would be needed to complete some of those things. However, the officials explained that if SEI has contracts in place with persons then the company may consider investing in the necessary machinery.