A Kenyan firm plans to turn a water plant that has long been a nuisance for fishermen in Lake Victoria into an electricity generating resource.
Eichhornia crassipes, known as the common water hyacinth, is a freshwater plant native to South America. It has green leaves, flowers with purple and yellow petals, and thick stalks that can grow longer than three feet.
For the better part of three decades, the water hyacinth has infested and polluted Lake Victoria, and caused local fishermen many problems as boats and fishing nets easily become entangled in its weeds.
The Kenya Organic Research Centre for Excellence (KORCE) is looking to help environmentalists and fishermen rid lake waters in Kisumu County of water hyacinths by using the plant as a raw material for generating electricity.
“The firm plans to generate power by harvesting the plants and feeding them into a bio-digester that will in turn produce gas to turn turbines that will produce electricity,” KORCE Chief Executive Officer and founder Sanjay Vadhera told Sabahi.
The firm has bought a 100 million-shilling ($1.2 million) machine for extracting the plant from the lake, he said.
KORCE has built a factory in the village of Rare that will start processing water hyacinths in mid-October, and is expected produce up to 120 megawatts of power daily, Vadhera said.
The operation will create job opportunities for locals and supply free electricity to communities within a 50-kilometre radius, he said, adding that KORCE plans to harvest 150 metric tonnes of water hyacinth during the first few months, and then increase production gradually.
Water hyacinths have had a negative effect on Lake Victoria since the late 1980s, when lakeside communities started to complain about the plant obstructing navigation and fishing, according to Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP) Co-ordinator Francisca Owuor.
“The plant grows at an alarming rate and forms an impenetrable carpet on the water that inhibits navigation, affecting fishing, which is Nyanza region’s main economic activity. The plant covers more than 700 square kilometres of the water,” Owuor told Sabahi.
2013 AllAfrica