Green(er) Tea – Creating clean heat and power with biomass residues and gasification technology to future-proof your cuppa

Sunset view of tea plantation landscape at Chiang rai, Thailand.

Client: Browns Plantations Kenya
Funders: UNIDO (A2D Facility),
Partners: Supivaa Advisory Group and IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)
Location: Kericho, Kenya
Status: In Progress (2025–2028)
Sector: Agriculture | Energy | Sustainability

Challenge:
Kenya’s billion-pound tea sector is under threat. Factories suffer from unreliable and costly electricity, relying heavily on diesel generators and wood for heat. Combined with declining soil fertility, skyrocketing fertiliser prices, and plummeting tea values, the industry faces a perfect storm of environmental and economic pressures.

Our Solution:
Compact Syngas Solutions was selected in the first wave of the United Nations’ Accelerate-to-Demonstrate (A2D) programme to deliver a world-first biomass-to-energy system using our 500kW MicroHub technology.

This modular plant:

  • Converts tea prunings, bamboo, and other biomass into syngas for heat and power
  • Captures carbon via biochar, enhancing fertiliser efficiency and locking away CO₂
  • Creating up to 300 skilled jobs over five years
  • Integrates digital monitoring for carbon tracking and energy resilience

 Outcomes and Impact:

  • Emission reductions of up to 2.8kg CO₂ per litre of diesel displaced
  • Improved yields and lower fertiliser use from biochar-enriched soils
  • Energy independence for tea factories
  • Gender-inclusive workforce development with a focus on training female technicians in a male-dominated sector

 Demonstration Goals:

  • Prove the commercial and environmental viability of our MicroHub at an operational tea factory
  • Scale this model across Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, and eventually worldwide

“This United Nations funding is a game-changer for the Kenyan tea industry… we’re going to provide energy security, improve crop yields and reduce emissions — all in one solution.”
— Paul Willacy, CEO, Compact Syngas Solutions

Link to A2D project update – https://a2dfacility.unido.org/web/node/12