Shanghai Electric Group provides supplier's credit for 62 MW Bio-Electric Power Plant Project at the Ciro Redondo Sugar Mill (Linked to Record ID#54944)

Project narrative

On May 12, 2016, Shanghai Electric Group signed a supplier's credit agreement for the provision of $185 million to Biopower S.A. for the 62 MW bioelectric power plant at the Ciro Redondo Sugar Mill, which is located in the province of Ciego de Ávila. This plant will generate energy through the use of bagasse, which is the residue from sugar cane milling. The supplier's credit is supported by a power purchase agreement with Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE), which is a state-owned enterprise responsible for the generation, transmission, distribution, and commercialization of electric power in Cuba. Shanghai Electric Group is the contractor as well as the lender. A groundbreaking ceremony occurred on April 27, 2017. The plant was originally expected to open in December 2019. On July 6, 2020, an opening ceremony was held to commemorate the completion of the project. The power plant has an installed capacity of 62 megawatts and is equipped with two 120-ton high-temperature and high-pressure biomass boilers and a 60-megawatt steam turbine generator set. The power plant uses dual-fuel power generation. During the sugar-making season, the sugar factory uses waste bagasse as fuel. The power plant provides the required steam and electricity to the sugar factory, and the excess electricity is transmitted to the national power grid. In the non-squeezing season, a local shrubby tree (Jatropha curcas) that grows on a large scale is used as fuel, and all the electricity generated is transmitted to the power grid. Since the trial operation began in 2020, the project has generated a total of 185,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, saving Cuba 50,000 tons of diesel fuel, equivalent to an economic benefit of US$32 million.