Deeside firm to power Kenyan tea sector with green tech
A Deeside-based energy firm has been selected for a pioneering United Nations-backed project to help decarbonise Kenya’s vital tea industry.
Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS) will lead one of the first five projects under the UN Industrial Development Organization’s new Accelerate-to-Demonstrate (A2D) facility.
The three-year initiative is also backed by private sector funding.
Working with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Supivaa Advisory Group, CSS will install a 500kW MicroHub at a Kenyan tea factory.
The system will convert local biomass – including waste tea prunings – into syngas, which can be used as a lower-carbon alternative to diesel and firewood.
Kenya exports £1 billion of tea annually, with around a quarter bound for the UK.
But the sector is heavily reliant on diesel-powered generators and wood burners due to an unstable electricity supply, making it a difficult sector to decarbonise.
CSS’s gasification process cuts emissions by up to 2.8kg of carbon dioxide per litre of diesel avoided, and nearly two tonnes per tonne of firewood replaced.
A byproduct of the process, biochar, offers additional benefits. It improves soil fertility, increases the efficiency of fertilisers and locks carbon in the ground.
It can also generate tradable carbon credits, giving producers another source of revenue.
Each MicroHub is expected to create around 20 jobs, with about 300 new roles projected across Kenya over the next five years.
The system will include a digital tool to monitor biomass supply chains, energy use and emissions in real time, helping tea factories reduce their environmental footprint while maintaining energy reliability.
The project also includes a gender-intentional approach, aiming to increase the number of women in Kenya’s engineering and energy sectors, where they currently represent just 7% of the workforce.
Supivaa-Co-REGEN will oversee site visits and help evaluate environmental and financial impacts.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture will manage the biomass supply chain, biochar application and carbon credit guidance.
Once the Kenyan pilot proves successful, similar projects are planned for Malawi, Uganda and South Africa.
Beyond the UN project, Compact Syngas recently secured nearly £4 million in UK government funding to enhance its hydrogen-from-waste systems through carbon capture technology.
An image shared by CSS shows officials marking the announcement, including UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller, Ambassador Lindsay Skoll CMG representing the UK in Vienna, and Kenya’s Deputy Head of Mission Valerie Rugene.
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