Municipal waste to produce power soon

by Ranil Wijayapala

The first ever waste to energy project to be launched in Sri Lanka as an effective solution to the Municipal solid waste issue in the Western province and also as a solution for the demand for power by using Municipal solid waste as a renewable energy source will be implemented in Korathota, Kaduwela as a private public partnership project in January next year.

The Western Province Waste Management Authority and Renewgen Environment Protection Kotte (Pvt) Ltd have joined hands to implement this waste to energy project to add eight Mega watts to the national grid and seek a solution to the solid waste generated in Western province.

The two agencies held its first workshop to educate government officials regarding the project at the Hilton Hotel on Friday with the participation of Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranathunga, Provincial Councillors and officials in the Western Province. Joint Manager Renewgen Environment Protection Kotte (Pvt) Ltd Senthil Kumar in his presentation said that they hope to begin construction work on the project in January next year after the five-acre land allocated for the project is ready for construction.

With the completion of the project it will incinerate 580 metric tonnes of unsorted Municipal waste per day to generate power.

"The project will be implemented in the most environmental-friendly manner minimising environmental damage by adopting the latest technology", he said. He said the project will use a highly proven grate based mass incineration technology that is suitable for unsorted Municipal solid waste in conjunction with advanced emission control systems. The technology for the project is being used in over 400 plants worldwide, he said.

The Company has tied up with Hitachi Zosen as its technology partner to use this technology in the project. This technology is the most widely deployed and commercially proven globally and Hitachi Zosen is a global leader in the WTE segment with a strong presence in Europe and Asia having executed more than 450 WTE plants worldwide.

The company has signed an agreement with the Ceylon Electricity Board to sell the electricity generated from the project to the national grid. The project will be completed in 18 months, he said.

Director Western Province Waste Management Authority Priyantha Samarakkody said that they would provide the unsorted waste for the project. The Waste Management Authority will accept the waste collected from local authorities at the site.

He said the project comes as one of the effective solutions for the Municipal solid waste problem in the Western Province as it generates 60 percent of the Municipal solid waste generated in the country.

With the successful implementation of the project, the Waste Management Authority expects to implement three more waste to energy projects in Karadiyana in Piliyandala, Kalutara and Gampaha to use the nearly 2,000 MT of Municipal solid waste generated in the Western Province daily.