Sustainable & Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) is going to implement a waste-based power plant with the help of UNDP on a pilot basis, a SREDA official said. The project company Waste Power Pty Limited (WPPL) will implement a 100 KW municipality solid waste-based electricity generation project at Kushtia. The proposed tariff of the power plant is Tk 15 per unit of electricity for 20 years. SREDA Chairman, Mohammad Helal Uddin, told Bangladesh Post ‘the government has set a target to generate 100 percent electricity from renewable energy by 2050. We are working to achieve the target and have already taken various types of initiatives. The waste-based power plant is one of them.’
‘It’s a pilot project. If we succeed, we will set up a large power plant,’ he added. An official said, a meeting of joint steering committee was held on September 15, in SREDA office. It discussed the waste-based power plant. Sources said, a power purchase agreement (PPA) may be signed between government and the WPPL next month. After PPA signing the construction work of the power plant will be started at the end of the year. However, it will take up to 6 to 8 months for generation of the power plant.
The project cost will be TK 5.38 crore. Of this, 65 percent project cost will be provided as a grant from UNDP supported SREPgen project of power division under Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.State owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) has recently approved a grant support of TK 3.50 crore to WPPL to implement the project.
Kushtia municipality will ensure the supply of the required amount of raw material and lease out 29.63 decimal land required for the project.
Officials said, in such a waste-based power plant, mostly organic waste will be collected from residential and commercial areas, and also agro-industrial and medical garbage will be gathered from different areas for supply to the plant for power generation.
Through anaerobic digestion process, the biogas will be produced and used for electricity generation. Some heat will also be generated in the process to generate electric power. Such waste-to-energy projects should always be considered part of waste management where electricity should be considered a byproduct instead of main product.
The Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh mandates that 10 percent of electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. In absolute terms, this means that at least 2000 MW has to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020. Currently 600 MW electricity is being generated from renewable energy. However, the government has taken various types of initiatives to fulfil the target. Municipal Waste to Energy is the most viable option for Bangladesh to fulfil 10% target of generating electricity from renewable sources.
