The factory produces medium-density fibreboard (MDF) from rice straw, which is used for furniture and buildings. The plant avoids the usual practice of burning rice straw, which is a byproduct of rice cultivation, and ensures its sustainable use by repurposing it into MDF. The factory is the second of its kind in the world and the first in Africa.
The ten mtu gensets have an operational lifetime of up to 84 000 hours before needing major overhaul.
Rolls-Royce is also supplying ten mtu 20V 4000 L64 FNER gas gensets to its distributor partner Collicutt Energy Services for end user installations on five sites in Alberta, Canada. Each site will provide power to the grid at times of peak demand.
The electricity market in Alberta is a for-profit deregulated “energy-only” system. The wholesale price of electricity is set each hour, and each producer is paid based on the rate at the time of supply, regardless of how that power is produced.
With the mtu Series 4000 natural gas fuelled gensets at each site, the power supplied to the grid is both more environmentally friendly and cost-effective than power produced from sources such as coal or diesel.
The units are also “future ready”, offering the ability to run on both natural gas and hydrogen blending.
This article first appeared in Modern Power Systems magazine.
