Kakira Sugar Ltd, has commenced commercial operations of a US$36.6 million ethanol plant at its Kakira sugar mill. The 20 million litre per annum capacity plant is currently the largest in Uganda.
According to Ugandan daily newspaper Daily Monitor, Ugandan sugar producer Kakira Sugar Ltd, a subsidiary of India-headed Madhvani Group, has commenced commercial operations of its 20 million litre per annum capacity fuel-grade ethanol distillery at its Kakira sugarcane-based sugar mill. The US$36.6 million plant, delivered as a turnkey plant by India-headed Praj Industries, will use around 74 000 tonnes per annum of molasses as feedstock to produce anhydrous ethanol for fuel blenders.
According to Kakira Sugar it has been working on the Anhydrous Ethanol Production Project ever since May 2008 after the Government of Uganda [GOU] formulated its Renewable Energy Policy in November 2007 through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development [“MEMD”]. Whilst the Ugandan Renewable Energy Policy supports the blending of biofuels with up to 20 percent, the legal framework required for ethanol blending to happen in Uganda has yet to be set in place. The Cabinet approved the Biofuels Bill in June 2015 and it was tabled before Parliament in December 2016.
