The Hindu 21.01.2010
BSES to buy electricity from Okhla ‘waste to energy’ plant
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: Power distribution company BSES on Wednesday signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management Company Private Limited (TOWMCL) to buy electricity from the Capital’s largest “city waste to power” initiative being set up at Okhla.
Under the agreement, BRPL will purchase 50 per cent of 16 MW electricity to be produced by TOWMCL at the Okhla plant.
Competitive tariff
“Under the terms of the agreement, BRPL will procure 50 per cent of the exportable electricity that will be generated by the under-construction 16 MW ‘waste to energy’ integrated power plant in Okhla. BRPL will procure power at a DERC-approved competitive tariff rate determined by a competitive bidding process,” said BRPL Chief Executive Officer Gopal Saxena.
The agreement allows the promoters to sell the remaining 50 per cent electricity through a suitable open access mechanism.
Solid waste
“The project awarded to TOWMCL will process over 643,500 lakh metric tonnes or one-third of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year generated in Delhi. Of this, around 1,300 tonnes per day (TPD) of MSW will be sourced from the Okhla landfill site and 650 TPD from Timarpur. The plant, to be commissioned in late 2010-11, is expected to annually lead to emission reductions of 266,066 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per annum,” said Mr. Saxena.
The power plant at Okhla is the second such project in the Capital that will use the city’s solid waste to generate clean and renewable electricity. The other project is coming up in Ghazipur.
Carbon credits
This past November BYPL had signed a 25-year agreement to procure 49 per cent of the electricity generated from the “city waste to power initiative” in Ghazipur. Together the two projects will generate 26 MW of electricity by cumulatively processing over 3,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. These “city waste to power” initiatives will also earn carbon credits for the MCD and the promoters.
“These novel projects offer an integrated opportunity to not only manage the city’s colossal municipal solid waste in an environment-friendly manner but also provides clean, green and pollution-free electricity,” said a BRPL official.
