Greater Chennai Corp to host new waste-to-energy project
The Keerapakkam waste-to-energy facility will have an incineration capacity of 2,400 tonnes of MSW per day and a rated electricity generation capacity of 45 MW.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has planned to develop a municipal waste-to-energy plant at Keerapakkam to process about 2,400 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day from the Chennai–Tambaram–Avadi urban cluster. The waste to energy project will be clubbed along a scientific landfill at the same site b GCC.
As per reports, the state government of Tamil Nadu will provide a construction grant of Rs 350 crore for the project. The facility will be developed on around 75 acres of land allocated by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation.
About 50 acres of the land will be designated for a scientific landfill to manage residual waste. The proposed waste-to-energy facility will have an incineration capacity of 2,400 tonnes of MSW per day and a rated electricity generation capacity of 45 MW. Electricity generated by the waste-to-energy plant will be sold to Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd under a power purchase agreement.
GCC is expected to supply around 1,800 tonnes of segregated waste and about 800 tonnes of unsegregated waste daily to the waste-to-energy plant. The concessionaire will undertake pre-processing of unsegregated waste before it is used for power generation.
The project will also include a dedicated pre-processing unit for handling mixed waste and infrastructure for the safe disposal of residual materials through a scientific landfill. The selected private operator will design, finance, build, commission, operate and maintain the facility under a 30-year concession agreement.
In addition, the operator will be permitted to recover and sell recyclable materials extracted from the waste stream at the waste-to-energy plant.
Tamil Nadu is striving to manage its waste scientifically through multiple waste to energy projects, especially in the urban centres, with view to end legacy waste and bolster circular economy to raise overall cleanliness. Its already building waste to energy projects in Tambaram, Salem, Madurai, Coimbatore etc.
