Estimation of the Electrical Energy Potential of Rice Husk Biomass Generated within Ebonyi State, South Eastern Nigeria

Nigeria’s energy sector has been ailing for the past two decades due to its excessive dependency on petroleum and lack of diversity in energy sources in the energy supply mix. To address this huge energy gap, biomass conversion power plant (BCPP) is considered as a “bridging solution”- allowing waste product to be used to generate power as an alternative to the high-emitting fossil fuels. Thus, this study was conducted to estimate the electrical energy potential of rice husk (RH) generated biomass within Ebonyi State, South East, Nigeria. RH accounts for approximately 20-23% of the total paddy rice weight with about 10 – 12% moisture. Presently, Ebonyi State produces about 300,000 metric tons (300,000,000Kg) of RH annually. The average percentage mass of the RH sample was calculated to be 21.33%. The BCPP analyzed result yields an average moisture and energy content (HHV) of 2.6% and 14.80MJ/Kg with a corresponding electricity output of 70.39KWh while the estimated result for the electrical energy potential of RH currently generated within the state was estimated to be 214.29MW per annum. This is a clear indication of the huge prospects that lie in the use of RH as feed stock for power generation within the State.