Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Govt. plans to pursue 14.85 mw plant project

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JAN. 31. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today announced in the Assembly plans to pursue a 14.85 MW plant to produce power from the city's garbage, using gasification pyrolysis technology, at Perungudi.

The project was originally pursued by the Chennai Corporation when it floated tenders for a waste-to-energy plant in 1998. In January 1999, Energy Developments Limited was shortlisted and a G.O. issued for the project. The agency formally entered into an MoU in 2001 with EDL to set up the plant at Perungudi. The Rs. 180-crore project was to be undertaken on a Build, Own and Operate basis and as per the agreement, the Corporation was to provide 600 metric tonnes of garbage per day for the plant.

However, the project never took off after the company found itself on the back foot on two counts. Primarily, the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy revised its tariff subsidy after the MoU was signed. This was not acceptable to the company.

The project drew sharp criticism from environmental activists and some welfare associations. Questions were raised on the Solid Waste and Energy Recycling Facility (SWERF) technology, which the plant was to use. Activists argued that the only functional facility using a similar technology at Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, was still on a experimental run and they did not see the necessity to promote an untested project here.

The waste-to-electricity approach meant that there was no incentive to reduce, reuse and recycle waste, which is mandated by the Supreme Court and the Centre.

According to sources, EDL representatives made a presentation to a high-level committee at the Secretariat before the commencement of the Assembly session to allay fears about the project. A similar presentation was made to some activists at the behest of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board earlier this month.

Incidentally, the Pollution Control Board had earlier raised several queries on the project, including the fate of chlorine compounds in the waste that would be gasified.

Currently, the city generates close to 3,000 tonnes of garbage everyday. The SWERF plant is expected to `treat' 600 tonnes of garbage.

Meanwhile, the Chennai Corporation is also pursuing another "waste-to- electricity" plant using biomethanization technology.

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