The Objective of this small-scale project is to substitute three generators running on fossil fuel with a cogeneration power plant which is fuelled by residual wood of the neighboring sawmill. The steam produced by the power plant is used for the kiln dryers.
At the moment, the sawmill of Bambidie, run by the Companie Equatoriale du bois (CEB), Precious Woods Gabon, a subsidiary of the Precious Woods group, as well as the employees’ village, have to rely on three diesel generators for power supply as they are not connected to the grid. The residual wood is currently burned in the open field posing a serious environmental problem. This project consists of the production of electricity with a thermoelectric steam turbine using wood residues from wood processing of the sawmill. The wood residuals will be transported to the chipper and then deposited in the silo for some days to dry. The silo also serves as stock in the case of maintenance of the sawmill. After drying, the chips are used to feed the boiler to produce the steam that drives the turbine. The cogeneration power plant replaces three diesel generators of 600, 900 and 1000 kVA, the current source of electricity, and provides as a side product enough heat for all kiln dryers.
The sawmill of Precious Wood Gabon processes about 60,000 m3 of round wood each year. Thereby, they produce 40,000 m3 of residual wood and saw dust. This residual wood is at the moment partially used for heat production to dry wood in the kiln dryers. The wood is mainly Okoume with an energy content of 9450 kJ/kg at a moisture of 45%. What is not used for heat production is burned openly in the field, which causes air pollution and is a threat to human health.
The project involves the installation of a 1.5MW steam turbine that shall produce up to 6500 MWh per year. However, only 4000 MWh are needed to supply the entire demand. Around 600MWh will be consumed by the plant itself, while 3400 MWh are distributed to the sawmill and the village and are accounted for as GHG emission reductions. This project is planned to be registered with the CDM-Gold Standard.