Kibo Energy, a renewable energy-focused development company, said yesterday that it had made significant progress in its aim to supply solid biofuel as a replacement for conventional coal to various international companies in the manufacturing industry.
The share price remained unchanged yesterday.
The company said it had recently conducted additional verification testing on selected biomass types through accredited laboratories to determine their performance specifications against specific energy requirements of potential clients as part of an ongoing technical feasibility study.
"The laboratory tests have yielded better-than-expected results, demonstrating that the selected biomass types not only match but significantly outperform conventional coal in many specification categories used in industrial boilers," it said.
Kibo Energy CEO Louis Coetzee said: "We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the most recent test work and are confident that the ongoing feasibility studies will bring further positive results, validating the Kibo strategy and ability to deliver carbon-neutral solutions in southern Africa’s highly challenging energy landscape.
"We remain on course to actively pursue the successful execution of our biofuel projects in southern Africa and look forward to providing further updates to the market on the progress of these initiatives.“
According to the group, the outcome of the previous pilot test work indicated that the bio-coal performed well above expectation over a measured three-day period, not only in terms of its combustion properties but also in terms of its physical characteristics in the materials-handling process, feeding process, and ash removal into and from the boiler.
"The results report provided by the boiler manufacturer indicated that bio-coal performed in line or better than what is expected from conventional coal, with the strategic benefit that it is a carbon-neutral solution," Kibo said.
The group said the positive lab and pilot tests clearly demonstrated the potential viability to replace conventional coal with solid biofuel from a technical and operational perspective.
"The latest results will now be fed into the detailed feasibility studies that are currently under way, to establish the technical and commercial viability to replace coal with solid biofuel in small- to medium-sized boilers and similar applications," it said.
Kibo also announced that Chris Schutte would retire as the executive director of the board on May 2. The company said it was currently considering a number of candidates to fill Schutte’s position.
“I also want to use this opportunity to thank Chris on behalf of the Kibo Board for his dedicated service to the company over the last two-and-a-half extremely challenging years. His technical knowledge and industry insight was invaluable and made a significant contribution to the company’s development,“ Coetzee said.
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