Pre-feasibility Analysis for Palm Oil Mill Group in Latin America
In 2018 CCI’s team of technical & financial experts analyzed the feasibility of BioGas projects for one of the largest groups of palm oil mills in Latin America. The in-depth analysis included technical site visits & inspections of the group's palm oil mills by CCI's engineers as well as expert meetings with plant managers, service providers and suppliers.
In the technical part CCI's team evaluated and confirmed the technical feasibility of converting the mills’ palm oil mill effluent (POME) to BioGas, renewable energy as well as BioCNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and carbon credits.
The financial analysis resulted in an IRR (Internal Rate of Return) of over 15% and an equity payback of 5.5 years.
CCI expects the resulting 280-page document to serve as the basis for finanzing and realizing the project in the near future.
Desktop Analysis, Southern Africa: 'Project Potential for BioGas-to-Energy from Mixed Waste Streams'
For a commercial customer in Southern Africa ClimeCo International researched and evaluated the potential to produce renewable energy from a variety of local and regional waste streams. The analysis included
- Detailed analysis of available waste streams
- Selection of a recommended technology and
- Potential for down-stream products (i.e. electrical power, heat, steam, CNG and fertilizer).
The project included several visits to the region & to potential waste stream sources. The fact that this country did not have any BioGas projects prior to our Desktop Analysis created many challenges for CCI and the local team, but also led to many ground-breaking results.
Strategy Development and Business Development: 'CNG-Vehicle Latin America'
In 2016 and 2017 CCI supported a European manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the development of a CNG-based vehicle for the Brazilian and Latin American market. The advisory services involved the entire value chain from the identification of raw material producers (local BioGas production) to the selection of suitable technologies and partners as well as the adaptation to local standards and necessities and the market entry.
Fully Bankable Feasibility Study, Southern Africa: 'Potential for Biogas-to-Power from Mixed Waste Streams'
As a follow-up project to the initial Desktop Analysis CCI produced a fully bankable feasibility study for the same commercial customer in Southern Africa. This feasibility study included
- In-depth research into the available waste streams (with extensive measurements and chemical analyses in a custom-made mobile laboratory) to determine their technical and commercial viability,
- Analysis and selection of recommended technical solutions (incl. a RFP for the anaerobic digestion system and the down-stream BioGas applications)
- Commercial research and analysis of the future market for the products.
When the planned national power feed-in legislation was postponed by the National Government, CCI and the customer developed a B2B structure based on the captive fleet of a local mine and BioCNG (compressed natural gas from BioGas) as a BioFuel. This unplanned solution resulted in an even better financial and technical feasibility of the project. Based on our feasibility analysis the customer won 2nd place in a regional business plan contest for renewable energy companies in Southern Africa.
Strategy Development, Latin America (USAID): 'Regional Cross-Border Greenhouse Gas Emissions Strategy'
CCI researched & analyzed the regional cross border GHG emissions from different economic sectors in two Latin American countries and developed a mitigation and reduction strategy. In its recommendations CCI identified the regional wastewater treatment network as one of the key opportunities to substantially reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions. Based on CCI's findings and recommendations the customer, a Governmental Cross-Border Organization, launched a follow-up project for energy policy & GHG management/abatement.
Strategy Development, Latin America (USAID): 'Waste Water Biosolids and Carbon Asset Management Strategy'
Waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) produce significant amounts of biosolids in the form of sludge. Many WWTPs dispose of their sludge at landfills, leading to substantial Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from transport as well as at the landfills. CCI developed a strategy for the customer, a Governmental Cross-Border Organization, to turn WWTP sludge into valuable resources (through solar drying, soilification, composting & fertilizer production), market the product to local farmers and reduce GHG emissions by over 40,000tCO2e/yr.
Fully Bankable Feasibility Study, Southern Africa: 'Biodiesel Production from Cattle Slaughterhouse Waste'
As a subcontractor CCI focused on the technical evaluation of a proposed biodiesel production plant in Southern Africa. The end-customer, the Federal Government of a Southern African country, requested this analysis to justify the investment of federal funds into a commercial project to produce biodiesel from the waste of a large local cattle slaughterhouse.
CCI performed an in-depth technical evaluation of the biodiesel production and analyzed the technical & commercial viability of the registration of the project as a carbon emission reduction project under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations.
Feasibility Study, China: 'Biogas-to-Power Project based on Cattle Manure'
For a financial investor in the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) arena CCI evaluated the technical and commercial viability of a biogas-to-power project based on cattle manure in Central China. The financial investor had signed a Letter of Intent with the largest private dairy cattle farm network in China to co-finance an anaerobic digestion project based on 10 connected dairy farms and asked CCI to perform a feasibility analysis with respect to the
- CDM qualification of the project
- Technical viability of the pre-chosen technology
- Commercial viability of the pre-chosen technology and the business plan
ClimeCo International performed an in-depth analysis of the project qualification under the CDM rules and gave specific recommendations for practice changes at the dairy farms in order to qualify under the CDM that were subsequently implemented by the dairy farm conglomerate. The analysis of the technology involved extensive research into available Chinese biogas-to-power technologies, especially as compared to best-practice European competition and recommendations on adaptations in specific down-stream product monetization options. One of the key findings of this analysis was the fact that more than 50% of the net profit of the project could be achieved through an appropriate processing and marketing of the digester sludge as organic fertilizer.
Portfolio Analysis, Central Europe/Asia: 'GHG Emission Reduction Project Portfolio Analysis'
ClimeCo International performed a portfolio analysis for a mid-sized CDM Investment Fund operating out of Central Europe. The analysis involved a portfolio of 18 CDM projects in Asia and Southern Africa, including several biomass, mini-hydro, biogas-to-power and cement industry projects. CCI visited and analyzed every project in the portfolio and reported a specific project status as well as a viability analysis and recommended actions for every project.
Project Management/Turn-Around, SE Asia: 'GHG Emission Reduction Project Portfolio Turn-Around & Optimization'
As a follow-up to the portfolio analysis CCI was asked to support the implementation of the recommended actions for each portfolio project and help the investment fund turn-around and optimize its portfolio. CCI developed a dash board for the turn-around management of the portfolio, supported the investment fund in re-negotiating several project contracts and thereby helped improve the portfolio performance significantly.
Management Support, Central Europe/Asia: 'Project Management Improvement for a CDM Project Developer'
Over the course of 18 months CCI supported a mid-sized European CDM Project Developer with a network of CDM projects in South East Asia to improve the project management and project implementation across its network. The improvements included active management support on location in Europe, the installation of an internal management system at the customer, project progress monitoring in the different countries as well as technical CDM qualification measures and general performance improvements.
Technology Evaluation, Central Europe/SE-Asia: 'Biogas-to-Power from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)'
ClimeCo International was asked to evaluate a locally developed POME-based anaerobic digestion technology in South-East Asia. The customer, a European financial investor, wanted to co-invest in a network of biogas-to-power projects based on this technology in the region. CCI performed an in-depth technology analysis, including the expertise of a certified expert court witness from Europe, and concluded that this technology was superior to any other commercially available POME treatment technology. The report resulted in the customer's successful investment into several biogas-to-power projects based on the evaluated technology.
Technology Evaluation, USA/SE-Asia: 'Biogas-to-Power from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)'
A US-based project developer engaged CCI to evaluate a locally developed POME treatment biogas-to-power technology in South-East Asia. The customer was planning to license the technology in a network of biogas-to-power plants in South East Asia and asked for CCI's technical and commercial evaluation of the technology as well as the technology provider.
CCI performed an in-depth analysis of the technology provider's reference plant and concluded that the technology was not suitable for the purposes of commercial biogas-to-power POME treatment projects for the customer.
Physical flow measurements & chemical waste stream analysis allowed CCI to discover that the demonstrated relatively high per-formance of the technology had been achieved through an over-sizing of the plant compared to the actual waste stream. Additional to this conclusion CCI recommended suitable alternative technologies and developed implementation guidelines for future projects.
Investment Analysis, Europe/SE-Asia: 'Network Evaluation POME Treatment Plants'
ClimeCo International corp. performed a technical and commercial analysis of a network of POME treatment plants in SE Asia for a European financial investor. The analysis involved in-depth technical analyses of the individual POME treatment plants (including physical measurements and chemical waste water analyses). CCI concluded that the chosen technology was not adequate to the waste water volumes, that the construction quality would eventually create heavy maintenance and repair cost in the medium and long term and that the network was heavily overprized. The network was acquired by another financial investor and eventually shut down after many performance and maintenance issues.