The 2030 climate and energy targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be a tough challenge for most industries. Most want, and of course need, to reduce their carbon emissions – but it requires significant investment, needs to operate efficiently, and takes specialist knowledge to operate and maintain.

When our client wanted to realise fully renewable production at 5 of their African sites, we understood that the project was bigger than just providing a biomass structure to meet targets, it was also about integrating the facilities into the local area and supporting farmers who would supply their organic waste materials. It had to be a ‘bigger picture’ solution. Having committed to cut water usage and greenhouse gas emissions in half, our clients’ investment in addressing climate change is one of the biggest in the sub-Saharan and Designer Group were delighted to be a part of the journey. The biomass boilers needed to be built on three existing sites, with all other carbon-neutral projects running concurrently, presenting many engineering and construction challenges. Local planning restrictions and lots of infrastructure to work around and within the site also created difficulties. In addition, the location posed significant lead times for material sourcing. Each biomass boiler needed to burn a wide range of solid biomass fuels and integrate into the current systems that were already installed and of course, in the most cost-effective way possible.

Designer Group were instrumental in the design, procurement, and construction stages of this ambitious project. We designed a high-efficiency, fully integrated solution that complimented plant and controls that were already in existence. The biomass boilers were seamlessly incorporated into the existing site and can burn a range of sold biomass fuels – which means that our client will always be able to source fuel and use local farms to maintain supply, continuing to help local markets.

Designer Group carried out some extensive engineering works to the biomass boiler to optimise the boiler rating. The biomass energy centre plant capacity ranges from 4 – 30 MW across the 3 sites. Each individual biomass boiler produces 6 – 18 tonnes of saturated steam per hour, demonstrating its efficiency and ability to run to the energy demands that are needed. Furthermore, our solution is carbon-neutral and conforms to Red II standards. We even designed a user-friendly automation system and have set about all the stages required to supply, operate and maintain this biomass facility. We have also made sure that there is the potential of combined heat and power options to cover all future possibilities – raising the ambition to be green.

Case Studies / East African Breweries