New biogas-to-power project to be developed in Bhubaneswar

A biogas-based captive power plant will soon be established at the Unit-I vegetable market in the capital city to convert organic waste into green energy. The objective of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is to scientifically process the large volume of biodegradable waste generated daily at the market and convert it into green fuel.

As per the officials of BMC, the facility will be developed within the next six to seven months on a pilot basis. The plant will occupy approximately 3,500 square feet of land within the market’s Micro Composting Centre (MCC) complex. The biogas generated from the processed organic waste will be converted into electricity and supplied to the public power grid.

Currently, the Unit-I haat, the city’s largest wholesale and retail vegetable market, generates around 16 to 17 tonnes of organic waste daily. The new biogas plant will have an initial processing capacity of 3 TPD. If successful, the facility’s capacity will be scaled up to handle the full volume of green waste produced at the market.

To operationalise the project, the civic body has floated a tender seeking a suitable agency to construct and maintain the plant for the next five years.

In a parallel move to streamline waste collection and transfer, BMC also plans to set up six new garbage transfer stations across the city. These facilities are intended to bolster sustainable solid waste handling practices. Each transfer station will cater to four to five municipal wards, ensuring timely segregation and same-day transfer of waste.

Civic officials confirmed that BMC is in process of identifying locations to build new transfer stations.

Last year, Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an MoU with BMC to build a compressed biogas (CBG) plant in Bhubaneswar with a capacity to treat 200 TPD of bio-waste. Now, part of waste collected from Unit-I vegetable market will be diverted to the 200-TPD biogas project.

Also, the bio-waste generated by Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) will also be utilized for generating biogas and organic compost as SJTA announced earlier this year to establishing a processing plant at Malatipatpur located on the outskirts of Puri.