Vizag to generate power from waste

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Jan 2, 2013: Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), is planning to set up a biogas plant for effective management of solid waste and also generate electric power on an experimental basis. As per the plan initially GVMC staff would experiment on generating 100 cubic meters of bio gas from 2tonnes of organic waste generated from kitchens. Around 80 street lights can be lit with the electric power generated from the bio gas by using 15 to 18 KW capacity power generators.  As of now daily around 800 to 1,000 tonnes of waste is being generated in various segments. Especially domestic waste from the household kitchens is being collected on a door to door programme by an outsourcing firm, which is segregated and then composted.

“Around 98 percent of the food and vegetable waste from household kitchens and rythubazars can be used to generate bio gas from which electric power can be generated with the use of power generators. As of now we have plans to set up a small bio gas plant and generate little power. If it is a success Vizag can have more such plants to generate power that can be used by GVMC for its varied uses,” consultant appointed by GVMC, Suresh Bandari told this correspondent.

As a first step compost yard in 10^th ward was identified where segregation is being done. “We are soon going to approach Coromandel Fertilizers and state horticulture department asking them to use the compost made from the wet organic waste at these yards and the bio gas generated from the vegetable waste can also be supplied to apartments,” said, GVMC Commissioner, M V Satyanrayana.   

Depending on the experiment more bio gas plants would come up in some more wards across the city under GVMC limits. A standing committee of the GVMC earlier visited Bruhath Banglore Maha Palika (BBMP) where 8MW of electric power is generated from 800MT of waste with bio gas plants in 24 of the 198 wards spread across the city.

Earlier in 2011, a Swedish team visited the city and promised technology transfer for making biogas from the sludge of the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the Old Town area.

The team also visited the 38 million litre per day (mld) capacity STP and said that the sludge could be mixed with some organic waste to produce biogas and assured GVMC that it would transfer the required technology. But, the idea did not take off thereafter.