Biomass power in Brazil continues to increase and several sources report increments in biomass installed capacity from bagasse and other raw materials. 

June 8 (SeeNews) – Brazil’s biomass power output hit 722.6 average megawatts (MWa) in the first quarter of 2016, marking a 10.5% increase year-on-year, data of the Power Trading Chamber (CCEE) shows.

The installed biomass-to-power capacity at the end of March stood at 11.5 GW country-wide, growing by 9.7% on the year. The state of Sao Paulo topped the chart with 5,166 MW, Mato Grosso do Sul came second with 1,830 MW and Minas Gerais ranked third with 1,177 MW.

In March alone, biomass-fired power plants produced 1,077 MWa. The state of Sao Paulo was the top producer with 481 MWa, or around 44.7% of the biomass power connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN). Mato Grosso do Sul and Bahia followed with 275.7 MWa and 61.9 MWa, respectively.

Sugarcane bagasse was the most widely used fuel in the plants, representing about 80% of the generation, or 858.9 MWa.

CCEE had 244 biomass power plants in commercial operation on its register at the end of this first quarter.

A digger loads sugarcane bagasse to produce cellulosic ethanol in Piracicaba. Source: Phys.org

Brazil thinks it has the sweet solution to ridding the world of reliance on fossil fuels for cars and other vehicles: sugar cane ethanol 2.0.

Ethanol—fuel derived from agricultural products—is already well established in Brazil, where more than 60 percent of 36 million vehicles run on ethanol or ethanol-fuel flex systems, rather than straight petrol or diesel.

Brazil, which produces ethanol from sugar cane, is the second biggest producer after the United States, which uses corn as the base.

But sugar cane, requiring vast plantations often hacked out of carbon dioxide-absorbing forests, poses its own problems in the fight against global warming.

Now Brazil is championing what it says could be an answer to that fatal flaw.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-brazil-pins-renewable-energy-ethanol.html#jCp

Ethanol and cane bagasse made up 41.1% of renewable energies

Bagasse is 80% of total biomass power generation in Brazil

The share of renewable energies in Brazil’s energy matrix grew from 39.4% in 2014 to 41.2% last year. Ethanol and cane bagasse made up 41.1% of renewable energies, followed by power from hydroelectric plants (27.5%), timber and charcoal (19.9%), biodiesel (2,5%) and wind energy (1.5%). The numbers are from the 2016 overviewResenha Energética Brasileira released this Monday (6) by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Brazil’s renewable energy usage rate exceeds that of developed countries, whose average is 9.4%. “The relevance of hydropower and biomass in the Brazilian energy matrix enable way lower CO2 emission levels than the world’s and developed countries’ averages,” the report reads. CO2 emissions shrank by 4.6% in Brazil last year as a result of a 7.2% drop in consumption of oil products.

Brazil’s installed biomass capacity climbs 6% y/y in 2015

– Brazil’s installed biomass capacity reached 11 GW in 2015, a 6% increase on the year, the Brazilian Power Trading Chamber (CCEE) said on Wednesday.

Currently, Brazil has 240 active biomass plants. According to CCEE’s InfoMercado Mensal bulletin, in December alone the biomass power plants produced 1,892 average megawatts (MWa), of which 83.7% used sugarcane bagasse as raw material.

New companies are starting with pellets from sugarcane bagasse as we show in this video below:

A production peak of 4,061 MWa was reached in August, in which sugarcane bagasse accounted for 93%, noted CCEE.

More details on the top biomass sources used in December 2015 are available in the table below:

CCEE also presented a ranking of the states with the largest biomass capacity in 2015. Sao Paulo closed the year as number one with a total of 5,112.8 MW, followed by Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais, with 1,785.3 MW and 1,112.7 MW, respectively.

New capacity coming up? Albioma to expand Brazil cogen plant

French bioenergy and solar power project developer Albioma has signed a joint venture agreement with Brazilian sugar mill operator Vale do Paraná to expand the capacity of an existing bagasse-fired cogeneration plant in Brazil.

The project will expand the 16 MW plant at the Vale do Paraná sugar mill in São Paulo state to 48 MW, with 18 MW planned to power the site’s sugar cane crushing operations.

Financing has not yet been secured, Albioma said, although the project is eligible for a long-term loan from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

Vale do Paraná is a subsidiary of Latin America’s leading sugar producer Pantaleon Group.  Its mill in São Paulo boasts a sugar cane crushing capacity of two million tonnes per year.