Turning waste into energy

The Local Government Division (LGD) is going to implement a Waste-to-Energy project in coordination with the Power Division for proper management of solid municipal waste (SMW), to be collected from the city corporation areas of Dhaka and Chattogram.

Official sources in the LGD and Power Division said the project will be implemented in the private sector. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase the electricity.

There will be no “gate fee” (a fee paid by anyone who disposes of waste in a landfill) for the project sponsor while the city corporations will ensure adequate supply of waste to the project as per agreement, according to sources.

Heat generated from burning waste will be used to produce power, officials said, adding that such project is already available in China and many other Asian countries.

They said the first project will be implemented in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) area on a pilot basis.

“If it’s successful, then such projects will be implemented in other areas,” said Mohammad Alauddin, joint secretary (renewable energy) to the Power Division, who is also a member of the high-level working group formed by LGD.

Officials said initiatives to generate power from SMW have been taken several times in last 20 years.

“But none of them succeeded due to a lack of coordination among government agencies, absence of policy support and cost effectiveness,” said a top BPDB official, working closely with renewable energy projects.

“This time we hope things will move positively as all relevant agencies, stakeholders and the Prime Minister’s Office are serious about its successful implementation,” he told the news agency recently.

He mentioned that a Waste-to-Energy project, recently undertaken by PDB in Keraniganj municipal area, was cancelled because of high cost of electricity tariff -- Tk 40 per kilowatt hour -- offered by the interested private firm. Besides, deficiency of solid waste was another reason for its cancellation.

Official sources said the new project plan came to the fore as the two dumping stations of DNCC and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) at Aminbazar and Matuail are going to be filled within two years.

Department of Environment (DoE) also raised concerns about the existing waste management system.

On April 25, LGD convened a meeting and formed a seven-member working group headed by the ministry’s additional secretary.

The other members of the group are: BPDB chairman; member of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority; chief executive officers of DNCC and DSCC; a joint secretary of the Power Division and a representative of DoE.

During the discussion, the group mentioned that the prime minister instructed the authorities concerned during an Ecnec meeting on December 1, 2015 to introduce incineration system for waste management.

The team has also set a detailed and coordinated working process to implement the incineration-based Waste-to-Energy project.

As part of the process, DNCC received 17 proposals from international firms. The Power Division has scrutinised the proposals and initially selected four of them, said a top official.

Those were sent to BPDB for a final scrutiny, where they will be shortlisted and asked to submit financial proposals. A BPDB official said the working group has recommended implementing the project under the Increase of Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Act 2010 for its swift implementation.

Four agreements will be signed with a firm once it is selected. They are -- implementation, power purchase, land lease and waste supply agreements, according to the official.