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Absolicon has commissioned a 180 kW solar thermal field in Kenya's largest tea district -- a groundbreaking installation that could transform global tea production. The plant is the world's first to use concentrating solar collectors and thermal storage to dry tea using solar heat. The solar field, financed by NCF, demonstrates how solar energy can protect forests and reduce the environmental impact of tea production.
In September 2024, Absolicon commissioned a revolutionary solar thermal installation to showcase how solar heat can be used to dry tea. The 180 kW solar field includes a thermal storage unit of over 1 MWh, which stores excess heat from day to night.
Kenya is the world's third-largest tea exporter after India and China, contributing significantly to the country's economy. However, tea production poses environmental challenges. Drying one ton of tea requires burning five tons of firewood, leading to deforestation and large areas of native forests being turned into fuelwood and replaced by eucalyptus plantations. Eucalyptus grows quickly, but nothing else thrives in these plantations, and the trees consume so much water that water sources dry up.
So, the tea that brightens our moments and provides a sense of calm also contributes to deforestation, drought, and carbon emissions in other parts of the world.
The solution could be drying tea leaves with solar heat, and Absolicon's installation to the tea factory is the world's first of its kind to use concentrating solar collectors and thermal storage. The 1 MWh thermal storage unit captures excess heat from day to night, ensuring consistent drying operations.
"The project has been a fruitful collaboration with WWF Kenya (World Wide Fund for Nature), the installation company Tealand, and the Swedish consulting firm Glofin," explains Joakim Byström, CEO of Absolicon.
WWF Kenya has assisted tea factories in implementing energy-saving measures, which have collectively reduced annual emissions by 600 tons of CO2. WWF has also organized seminars where many of Kenya's major tea producers participated.
The Chelal Tea Factory, where the solar installation is located, is part of KTDA (Kenya Tea Development Agency), a cooperative of 600,000 self-owned tea growers operating 54 tea factories together. Both the Kenyan government and KTDA aim to protect the remaining forests and explore new ways to supply heat for tea factory processes.
"This has been a challenging project, delayed by issues with importing the solar central unit," says Joakim Byström. "But countries like Kenya, with so many hours of sunshine, have much to gain by using solar heat to supply their industrial processes with heat and steam. We've demonstrated here that it is possible."
The facility will now be formally handed over to KTDA, and Absolicon will offer free remote support for the plant until the end of the year.
Glofin has developed business plans and financing methods for scaling up energy-saving and renewable energy investment results. This effort has led to the creation of the "Industrial Cleantech Platform," a project led by UNIDO and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, financed by SIDA. The project aims to support tea factories in investing in new technologies to reduce their environmental impact.
Absolicon's long-term goal is to establish production of concentrating solar collectors in Kenya. The tea industry alone would require fifteen years' worth of production from Absolicon's robotic production line to meet its thermal energy needs.
Chelal Tea Factory is Absolicon's second installation in Kenya. The first is at the IberAfrica power station, which has been in operation for three years.
The project has been funded by the Nordic Climate Facility (NCF) and implemented together with WWF Kenya and Tealand Engineering & Construction Ltd, as announced by Absolicon on December 22, 2018.