Sugar industry has always occupied a prominent position in the Mauritian economy since the introduction of sugarcane around three centuries ago. Mauritius has been a world pioneer in establishing sales of bagasse-based energy to the public grid, and is currently viewed as a model for other sugarcane producing countries, especially the developing ones.
Sugar factories in Mauritius produce about 600,000 tons of sugar from around 5.8 million tons of sugarcane which is cultivated on an agricultural area of about 72,000 hectares. Of the total sugarcane production, around 35 percent is contributed by nearly 30,000 small growers. There are more than 11 sugar factories presently operating in Mauritius having crushing capacities ranging from 75 to 310 tons cane per hour.
During the sugar extraction process, about 1.8 million tons of Bagasse is produced as a by-product, or about one third of the sugarcane weight. Traditionally, 50 percent of the dry matter is harvested as cane stalk to recover the sugar with the fibrous fraction, i.e. Bagasse being burned to power the process in cogeneration plant. Most factories in Mauritius have been upgraded and now export electricity to the grid during crop season, with some using coal to extend production during the intercrop season.
Surplus electricity is generated in almost all the sugar mills. The total installed capacity within the sugar industry is 243 MW out of which 140 MW is from firm power producers. Around 1.6 – 1.8 million tons of bagasse (wet basis) is generated on an annually renewable basis and an average of around 60 kWh per ton sugarcane is generated for the grid throughout the island.
The surplus exportable electricity in Mauritian power plants has been based on a fibre content ranging from 13- 16% of sugarcane, 48% moisture content in Bagasse, process steam consumption of 350–450 kg steam per ton sugarcane and a power consumption of 27-32 kWh per ton sugarcane.
In Mauritius, the sugarcane industry is gradually increasing its competitiveness in electricity generation. It has revamped its boiler houses by installing high pressure boilers and condensing extraction steam turbine. All the power plants are privately owned, and the programme has been a landmark to show how all the stakeholders (government, corporate and small planters) can co-operate. The approach is being recommended to other sugarcane producing countries worldwide to harness the untapped renewable energy potential of biomass wastes from the sugar industry.
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