Ugandan sugar miller Kakira Sugar Works Ltd (KSW) will start producing ethanol from the fourth quarter of 2016, after installing a distillation plant.

Praj Industries Ltd of India has been contracted by KSW, which is owned by Madhvani Group, to supply production equipment for ethanol and premium grade extra neutral alcohol (beverage alcohol).

Tanzania’s Illovo Sugar Ltd, Kenya’s Mumias Sugar Company, Spectre International Ltd and Agrochemical and Food Company Ltd (AFCL) are producing ethanol.

Mumias Sugar sold 12.1 million litres of ethanol in the financial year ended June 30, 2014. Illovo’s plant in Kilombero has an output of 12 million litres of ethanol, Spectre 27 million litres and AFCL 21.6 million litres per year.

In filings submitted to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Praj said it had been contracted by KSW to build a production plant that has capacity of 60,000 litres per day of fuel ethanol and premium grade extra neutral alcohol. The company will supply equipment for fermentation, distillation and wastewater treatment, and bio composting.

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Praj executive chairman Pramod Chaudhari said the project will be undertaken in 18 months, on an engineering, procurement and construction basis, as the facility is one of Uganda’s largest ethanol plants.

“Effluent generated by the plant will be converted into biocompost for renewing the soil fertility,” Mr Chaudhari said. Biocompost from the plant will be used as manure.

All the steam required and 50 to 60 per cent of electricity consumed by the complex will be generated by the distillery plant. KSW currently generates power using bagasse, a by-product of crushing sugarcane.

The company uses 16 of 50MW of electricity and the remainder is injected to Uganda’s national grid. Kakira crushes over 6,000 tonnes of sugarcane daily.