The Suchitwa Mission of the Kerala government has initiated procedures for setting up a new solid waste treatment plant capable of processing 500 tonnes of material per day at Brahmapuram here.
The mission, with the assistance of ICICI Kinfra Limited, a joint venture of the State government, will select an operator under a DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) pattern in the public-private participatory mode.
A top official of the mission told The Hindu that the prospective operator would be selected by means of a global tender. The focus will be on technology suited to local conditions. Though several international technologies are available, the particular climatic conditions would have to be taken into consideration as the air has high humidity in Kochi.
While the land will be provided by the government for the new plant, the selected entity would have a choice on the quantum of investment. The operation would be bound under an agreement by which the energy generated would be added to the KSEB pool. The profit derived from generation of power would have to be shared between the operator and the government.
There is no plan to demolish the dysfunctional plant located at Brahmapuram. It could be upgraded as the new plant would be set up on another piece of land of about 10 acres. The composting technology used at the Brahmapuram waste treatment earlier has been found inappropriate. The plant itself had faced numerous structural problems.
While the Hyderabad-based company, which operated the earlier plant, would not be barred from taking part in the tender process, it would have to be bound by the clauses under a new agreement. The new pact would be carefully drafted to avoid the kind of loopholes which existed in the operation of the earlier plant, the official said.
The mission has succeeded in initiating a project for solid waste treatment at Chala in Thiruvananthapuram. The project, capable of processing 35 tonnes of waste per day, is expected to be functional in six months.
A process called pyrolysis, different from methods such as combustion and hydrolysis, will be employed for treating solid waste there. Pyrolysis involves thermochemical decomposition of organic material at high temperatures with minimum oxygen. The process is used in chemical industry to produce charcoal and activated carbon.
