$3.8m renewable energy plant on the cards

THE Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) will develop a renewable energy plant at a cost of US$3.8 million in Kitwe.

Funds for the biomass gasification-based power plant project would come from the Global Environmental Fund through the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation facility by the Development Bank of Zambia.

The rest of the funding was expected to be raised from a combination of debt and equity.
According to a CEC media notice, the project would use wood waste from the Copperbelt Forestry Company where it would be based.

A feasibility study commissioned by CEC indicates that there was enough feedstock for the sustainable operation of a one megawatt biomass power plant at the project site.

The project would require 11, 000 tonnes of biomass per annum to reach the capacity.

CEC has since invited the public, interested and affected parties to a consultative meeting on the proposed project.