The Fiji government has set FEA an ambitious goal of becoming a 100% renewable energy power utility by 2011. Fiji’s electricity generation is primarily hydro power from a single 80MW power station at Monosavu.

Until now, the balance (around 50%) of the national grid requirement has been produced by diesel-fired generators, costing the country dearly as electricity demand has risen, along with world oil prices. Diesel costs to FEA have dramatically soared by over 200% over the last four years. FEA has therefore fast tracked all renewable capital projects, including the Drasa project.

Using our license from The Babcock & Wilcox Company, we have designed and shipped a renewable energy plant with the heart of the system being a Babcock & Wilcox Towerpak superheated steam boiler plant. The plant is located at the Drasa sawmill complex of Tropik Wood and will be fired on bark, sawdust and wood residues from the mill operations. Steam from the superheater is delivered at a flow rate of 35 tonnes per hour, 43 bar pressure and 400ºC to two turbine generator plants capable of producing 12MW of electricity.

The project was inaugurated in Sept 2006 with a vibrant and colourful groundbreaking ceremony held at Drasa, near Lautoka attended by representatives of the project developer, land owners, government, financiers and all major plant suppliers.

The boiler plant has been designed using 3-D modelling technology by the RCR Energy Systems team based in Hastings, NZ, with project management successfully led by Project Manager, Hamish McBeth.