Sugar Cane Bagasse Could Produce 3,000 Megawatts for Brazil

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The exhaustion of conventional energy sources in Brazil has prompted a search for reliable and cost-effective sources of energy to guarantee the sustained development of the region. Market specialists believe the sugarcane bagasse is one of the most suitable alternative resources to Brazil, which is facing a power crisis.

According to Mario Veiga, panelist at an energy seminar that took place recently at Brazil's northeastern city of Boa Viagem in Ceara State, renewable energy may have a crucial role in the country's power supply, especially in the northeastern region.

In the following years, more than 97 sugar mills will be built in Brazil, and they will grind more than 300 million tons of sugar. Each million-ton of sugar cane can generate 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Therefore, just the sugar mill sector could produce approximately 3000 MW.

The use of biomass as a source of energy in agricultural industries northeast of Brazil began in the 1990s, when sugarcane bagasse began being used in boilers as fuel for heat to vaporize water.

Currently, SUEZ Energy International is planning to build a 70-MW cogeneration plant fuelled by sugar cane biomass at Sao Joa da Boa Vista in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It will be constructed in partnership with Dedini Acucar e Alcool, a local agro-industrial group, which will use 47 MW of electricity and the steam produced by the plant. The project will begin operations in 2010.

Brazilian Company Usaciga Acucar, Alcool e Energia Eletrica S.A will invest $32 million to build a sugar cane bagasse fueled cogeneration plant. Usaciga is planning to increase its sugar cane grinding capacity by 20% in 2008, producing 2.5 million tons per year.

Lastly, ETH Bioenergia, a biodiesel company from the Odebrecht Group, will invest $1.05 billion in the construction of three sugar-ethanol plants in Goias. The three plants will produce sugar and ethanol and also co-generate energy from the sugar cane bagasse. The first plant will be in Goias in Cacu City and is expected to begin operation after the 2009-10 harvest. The second unit will also be in Cacu, and the third will be in Itaruma about 50 kilometers from the first two. For more information, view related October 8, 2007, article - Odebrecht to Invest $1.05 Billion in Three Ethanol Plants in Brazil's Goias.

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