The residual fibre left after the juice is extracted out of the sugarcane crushing is called “bagasse” in the industry. The factory needs electricity and steam to run, both of which are generated using this fibre as a fuel. The bagasse is burnt in specially-designed large high-pressure boilers to generate high-pressure steam which drives turbines in order to produce electricity.
The low-pressure steam from the turbine exhaust is thereafter redirected into the sugar factory and its heat is used in the process of converting cane juice to sugar. Producing steam and electricity in this way is called ‘bagasse co-generation’. Kakira generates 51MW of electric power and currently sells up to 32 MW of power to Uganda’s national grid.
Our co-generation facility is one of the largest in Africa, with annual electrical energy generation of around 370GWh.
