genia bioenergy
Renewable energy for an isolated rural community in Honduras.
Installation of a renewable energy microgrid combining a 52-kWp photovoltaic solar farm and a 25-kW biomass gasification plant in Honduras.
genia bioenergy
Installation of a renewable energy microgrid combining a 52-kWp photovoltaic solar farm and a 25-kW biomass gasification plant in Honduras.
The project aims to provide reliable, clean energy to the small rural community of El Santuario, a district isolated from the national grid in Choluteca province, Honduras.
The community is located in the Mesoamerican Dry Corridor, a region highly exposed to extreme weather events (severe droughts alternating with torrential rain), where 3.5 million people – 40% of whom live in Honduras – are at risk of energy poverty (FAO, 2016). It is funded by AECID (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development) with contributions from other NGOs, the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the support of the Valencian companies Genia Global Energy and Monsolar.
The project, which has just begun, will set up a fully-operational electrical system in El Santuario by early 2022 and will serve as a repeatable, scalable model for other remote rural communities.
The UPV designed a renewable-energy microgrid that combines photovoltaic solar power and biomass gasification to provide sufficient clean energy for domestic and agricultural tasks for the community’s 500 inhabitants,
in addition to which it will provide lighting for community centres – especially the school – and implement new production processes by enabling refrigeration of food and processing of the same by machines. The project facilitates access to energy as a basic necessity, fosters economic development and provides access to new sources of information, a key aspect for educational purposes.
The use of biomass for gas generation will reduce consumption of the firewood that currently constitutes the primary fuel source. Each household burns from 10 to 20 kg of wood per day, leading to deforestation and health problems for the residents.
The project, which has just begun, will set up a fully-operational electrical system in El Santuario by early 2022 and will serve as a repeatable, scalable model for other remote rural communities.
