Biogas Plant Installations in Fiji – Field Visit Report

Introduction

On Friday afternoon 27 January I had the opportunity to visit two biogas plants
installed by the Fiji Department of Energy. I was accompanied by Mr Paula Katirewa,
Senior Energy Officer, from the Fiji Department of Energy. The two sites visited
were:

(i) Joe Brown’s Farm; and

(ii) Suresh Lakhan’s Farm.

Objective

The main purpose of the visit was to see first hand how the biogas plants are
operating in real life situation.

Rationale

PIEPSAP is planning to tap into the biogas experience in Fiji, especially in the
construction and maintenance of biogas plants for the benefit of other Pacific Island
Countries. PIEPSAP has received request for assistance is this area from a number
of PICs.

Joe Brown’s Farm

The farm is located in Waila about two kilometres off Princess Road, towards the
Nausori end of the road. Apart from root crops farming, Mr Brown also has a piggery
that provides the resource for the biogas plant. The piggery has nine pigpens, each
containing on average of about five adult pigs. However, at the time of the visit only
two pens contained pigs as most of the pigs were sold during the Christmas season.
According to the farmhands, they are in the process of filling up the pens again and
that will take about two to three months.

Gas Meter Cooking with gas from the digester

The biogas plant at the farm was installed with the assistance of the Fiji Department
of Energy in 2003. It is a Fixed-dome Carmatec biogas plant and has a volume of
15m3. There are two points where gas is supplied, one to the kitchen where the gas
is used for cooking food and one to a shed by the piggery where the gas is used for
boiling water used for cleaning butchered pigs.
Information obtained from the farmhands, showed that there has been very minimal
interruption in the supply of gas since it was installed. The interruption has been due
mainly to the blockage of gas at the stove end and not due to the lack of gas
produced in the digester. At the time of the visit, there was gas available as shown in
the right hand picture above.

Waidalice Farm

The second biogas plant visited was at a dairy farm in Waidalice, belonging to Mr
Suresh Lakahn. This is also a 15m3 Fixed-dome Carmatec biogas plant but uses
cattle waste for producing gas. There are about twenty-two heads of cattle that
produce the waste resource for the biogas. The cattle are brought to the milking
shed twice a day – at 6.00am in the morning and at 3.00pm in the afternoon. It is
during these times that the waste is produced and collected. The waste is fed into
the digester every morning.

Like Joe Brown’s farm, the Lakhans use the gas produced from the biogas plant for
cooking. According to Mr Lakahan, he had never experienced any problem with his
biogas plant. It has been constantly supplying his household with sufficient gas for
cooking since it was installed in 1997. Further, Mr Lakahan highlighted that he had
not carried out any maintenance work on the plant since it was installed. A gas
meter was installed by the Fiji Department of Energy about a year ago to monitor the
amount of gas that is used by the household. On the day of the visit, the meter
display showed 694.85 m3 of gas had been used.

Cattle waste Digester at Waidalice

Conclusion

There is a marked difference in the quality of the gas at the two sites as observed by
the flames produced from the gas stove. The flame from the gas stove in Waidalice
(cattle waste) is bluer in colour when compared to that in Waila (pig waste).

Considering the short time it takes to collect the cattle waste at the Lakhans’ farm to
meet the digester’s capacity, the prospect of building a bigger digester looks
promising. Having a bigger digester means more gas availability and hence the
opportunity for utilisation in other areas such having a hot water system for the
household.

In transferring the technology to other PICs, it will be necessary to look at the

situation in each country. The number of pigs or cattle is a major consideration on
the size of the biogas plant. It may not necessarily be practical to duplicate the 15m3
plant highlighted above; a smaller size plant may be ideal for small countries such as
Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands. On the other hand, there are countries that may
need bigger size digesters, depending on the volume of waste available.

The prospect of utilising animal waste for producing biogas for household energy use
such as cooking in PICs is promising. The lack of capacity in the construction and
installation of biogas plant is one of the major barriers to the widespread use of
biogas in the region.

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