A German company promises to turn a mountain of garbage in Howrah (near Kolkata) into a fountain of energy.
Berlin-based INTEC Micro Powder AG, a pioneer in conversion of waste into energy, has inked a deal with the Howrah Municipal Corporation to build a Rs 3,400-crore plant at Domjur where garbage will be processed to generate electricity.
If the garbage-to-energy plant sees the light of day, it would be the first of its kind in India, giving Swachh Bharat a new spin.
The project not only promises Howrah a clean, renewable source of energy but also an easy solution to its problem of mounting garbage. The civic body has been looking for a dumping ground to replace the one at Belgachhia (not to be confused with the locality by the same name in north Calcutta) that is already a 30-storey mountain of waste.
“We are going to collaborate with INTEC Micro Powder AG, which has the world’s best and newest patented technology for conversion of solid waste into renewable energy, to tackle our garbage problem,” Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty said after a meeting last week with municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim, representatives of the German company and CESC officials.
The project is a public-private partnership to be executed by a joint venture company named Solid Waste Energy Private Ltd, comprising the municipal corporation, INTEC Micro Powder AG and FEAL Techno Pvt Ltd, the facilitator.
Sources said 90 per cent of the funding would be by a consortium of German companies – Juvema Lux, a finance organisation, FEAL and INTEC. All three have committed to make equal contributions. The remaining 10 per cent will be provided by the municipal corporation, 30 per cent in cash and 70 per cent in bank guarantees.
In addition to this, the civic body is required to provide more than 35 acres free of charge for the project. A 15-hectare plot (37.06 acres) in Raghunathpur Mouza of Domjur, next to NH6, has been selected for the plant. In that area of Howrah, the market value of land is about Rs 3 crore an acre.
“The foundation stone for the plant will be laid in January and we hope to commission it 24 months down the line,” said Debasish Mukherjee of FEAL, India. “The plant will have the highest performing waste-to-energy system in the world, producing 2.2 MW/hour from one tonne organic waste,” said Andreas Kruger, INTEC’s chief executive officer who was in Howrah for talks with the mayor.
The company operates seven plants in Germany, the UK, Vietnam and other countries that convert waste to energy using patented technology.
The Howrah plant is expected to generate 70MW per hour. The plan is to sell the power to CESC. A purchase agreement is being readied under which power generated at the plant would be purchased by CESC at the existing rate of Rs 5.11 per watt. There is a provision to raise the rate later.
According to sources, CESC has also sent a proposal to the state electricity regulatory board to purchase the power generated at the plant at Rs 5.11 per watt. A purchase agreement would be signed if and when the board approves the proposal.
German consul general Olaf Iversen said he was excited to bring German technology to Bengal. “We are fascinated by this waste-to-gas-to-energy project. It is a new technology. Howrah could make headlines all over India and beyond if the project is implemented here on the scale proposed. In my view, the project proposal is well founded and convincing,” he told Metro.
Iversen said the project was all about providing a sustainable solution to Howrah’s garbage problem. “Once the waste is taken away, the land where it is being dumped would become available for better purposes.”
The civic body is aiming to reclaim Belgachhia in a decade. “In about 10 years, we hope to rid Belgachhia of its garbage dump and use the land for development,” said municipal commissioner Nilanjan Chattopadhyay, who has visited an INTEC plant at Wessel, about 300km from Dusseldorf in Germany.
“The site chosen for our plant is just 15km away from the Belgachhia trenching ground. Being close to the national highway, it will be easy to transfer garbage to the site,” Chattopadhyay said.
The plant would provide employment to about 300 people in the first phase, with scope for adding 200 jobs in the second phase, according to official projections.
Conversion of waste to power is common in the West but has not been successful in India so far. Environment activist Subhas Datta attributed this to problems in waste segregation. “There had been an attempt to undertake a waste-to-power project in Howrah in 2007-08 under the erstwhile Left Front government. The project failed because it wasn’t possible to segregate the waste. Only biodegradable waste can be utilised to generate power. And in Howrah, it will be very difficult to introduce waste segregation with the kind of population we have,” he warned.
But INTEC Micro Powder AG offers a solution to turn even mixed municipal solid waste into electricity. “The complete value chain starts with the collection of industrial, household and rural waste within a dedicated waste management and waste-separation scheme adapted to the respective local conditions,” wrote Christian Hirte, member of the German Parliament and a former member of the Committee for Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety, in his recommendation of INTEC AG as one of Germany’s leading waste management companies.
Municipal commissioner Chattopadhyay said “the biggest advantage” of collaborating with INTEC was its technology that allows generation of power from unsorted or unsegregated waste. “All we have to do is transfer about 2,000 metric tonnes of waste every day to the plant. Howrah and Bally generate 1,500 metric tonnes of waste daily. Plus, we will be taking the accumulated waste from the Belgachhia trenching ground.”
Unlike in Germany, where INTEC purchases garbage to convert into electricity, the Howrah civic body won’t be charging for the waste.
The German consul general said states like Maharashtra and Gujarat had expressed interest in the technology. “I can well imagine that once this project is running, there could be a demand also in Calcutta for the same type of project.”
He added: “The project would be mutually beneficial. The investors can expect a gradual refinancing over approximately 20 years through the sale of electricity to CESC. Howrah can expect a substantial clean investment and up to 1,000 jobs.”
Solution: Solid waste to energy project
Where: Raghunathpur, Domjur
Land: 15 hectares
Waste required: 2000 metric tonnes a day
Power generation: 70MW per hour
Project cost: Rs 3,400 crore approx
Features:
-Use of garbage to generate electricity as renewable energy source
-Clearing of accumulated garbage at Belgachhia trenching ground and thus freeing the land
-No accumulation of new garbage
-Ground water contamination will be eliminated
-Employment for 300 people in the first phase and 200 more in the second phase
-90 per cent project cost to be borne by German companies
-Use of latest technology
-Byproducts like fertilisers and road additives can be sold by civic body to increase revenue (Agencies)