The Hindu 09.07.2013
Waste-to-energy technology for new Brahmapuram plant
Rs.350-crore facility will be capable of processing 500 tonnes of waste daily
Finally, the government has zeroed in on the technology
to be adopted at the proposed solid waste treatment plant in
Brahmapuram.
Minister for Urban Affairs Manjalamkuzhi Ali told
The Hindu
on Monday that the new facility would adopt the waste-to-energy technology.
The
government has been in a dilemma over the technology to be implemented
in Brahmapuram and had held hectic consultations over the past several
weeks.
Mr. Ali said that a Cabinet sub-committee
decided to go for the waste-to-energy method at Brahmapuram based on the
recommendations given by the R.V.G. Menon Committee that was entrusted
with the task of studying advanced waste management technologies
available in the country. The Minister said the new Brahmapuram plant
would be similar to the proposed integrated municipal solid
waste-to-energy facility at Chalai in Thiruvananthapuram.
He
said the government would adopt the ‘Swiss challenge approach,’ a
competitive bidding process, for constructing the plant. No bidder would
have a predefined advantage in this process. It also provided companies
with considerable incentives to propose new ideas.
The
plant would be implemented under a DBFOT (design, build, finance,
operate and transfer) pattern in the public-private participatory mode.
As per the original project proposal, the plant, estimated to cost Rs.
350 crore, would be capable of processing 500 tonnes of waste daily.
The Hindu
had earlier reported that the government had decided to adopt the Swiss
challenge approach after the Department of Urban Affairs rejected the
financial bid offered by three agencies that initially came forward to
set up the waste-to-energy-based plant. A government committee had
rejected the financial bids terming them as ‘unrealistic’. Mr. Ali said
the companies had submitted an unscientific estimate of the electricity
generation from the solid waste processed at the new plant.
The
government would provide 10 acres near the now defunct plant of the
Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram for the new project. The government
would have no financial obligation while the selected entity can decide
on the quantum of investment.
As per the original
project proposal, the operation of the plant will be bound under an
agreement by which the energy generated will be added to the KSEB grid.
The profit derived from generation of power will have to be shared
between the operator and the government.
The
Brahmapuram plant is among the three regional solid waste treatment
facilities proposed to be established using a feasible technology model.
The other two plants are proposed to be built in Thiruvananthapuram and
Kozhikode.