Msw project benefits

The waste to energy (WTE) plants, now benefit from several government subsidies, from MNRE of up to Rs. 2 crore per megawatt reserved for commercial waste to energy projects. For the demonstration projects of waste to energy plants, the government offers direct subsidies of up to 50 per cent of the plant’s capital cost (up to Rs. 3 crore per MW). Municipalities also receive handsome incentives of Rs. 15 lakh per MW for facilitating local garbage free of cost to these waste to energy plants for a period of up to 30 years. It is interesting to note that even state nodal agencies can receive incentives of Rs. 5 lakh per MW for promoting and monitoring all kinds of waste to energy projects.

With ample incentive for government bodies and private businesses to roll in the funds, India still has to leverage the waste to energy plants in India.

Investment in Waste to Energy through gasification process in India

The Waste to Energy Cost in India differs from project to project, with the change in tipping fee involved along with partnership ration between the government and tech solution providers.

Bangalore’s MSW (excluding paper and plastic for recycling) if gasified, can generate 28 MW of electricity while the remaining sludge can be used in composts or in bio-plastic manufacturing.

The cost of installing a gasification waste to energy plant is – Rs. 15-18 crores/ MW (cost of electricity if sold at Rs. 12-14/ kWh. The plants are not feasible in themselves as cost of electricity from other power sources range between Rs 2.5-10/kWh (coal to solar

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) also adopted a similar system taking care of 50% of the city’s waste in alliance with Concord Blue Technology Private Ltd. The contract was set up for 25 years to implement the patented ‘gasification-reformer tower.’ The 2.5 MW plant, now scaled to 10 MW, processes 650 tpd (ton per day). The tipping fee for the tech solution providers was around Rs. 300 per tonne. The cost of the plant was 14-15 crore/ MW with the generated cost of electricity coming to Rs. 13/ kWh. This is offset by actual price paid by the electricity board, the tipping fee involved and other incentives.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu hosted a 50-acre site for a gasification project worth Rs. 100 crores ($18.5 million) with a public private partnership under the DBOT model, to process 300 tonnes of solid waste on a daily basis, generating around 3 MW of electricity.

Making the Waste to Energy projects viable

To be able to make Waste to Energy projects financially viable,

• Municipality needs to offer incentives to developers with a “tipping fee” paid to the developer per tonne of MSW.
• Segregation of waste at source is highly important to make the system more efficient for energy recovery.
• Collaboration of political institutions with technical teams for project clearance and rehabilitation of all rag-pickers should be on priority.