he first steps for constructing a 15 MW Waste-to-Energy Plant at Naidupet dumping yard here were taken on Saturday after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Saturday between the nine urban local bodies, including Guntur and Vijayawada municipal corporations and JITF Urban Infrastructure Ltd., a firm owned by Jindal Company.
Guntur Municipal Commissioner S. Nagalakshmi, NREDCAP District Manager Harnath Babu and senior manager of JITF Ecoplus Rupesh Sharma exchanged the copies of the MoU in the presence of other Municipal Commissioners.
Ms. Nagalakshmi told reporters that all the formalities, including handing over the land would be completed within two months and added that the plant would start functioning within 18 months.
The plant would require a minimum of 1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste daily to produce the power which would be sold to the SPDCL at the rate of Rs.6.5 per unit. JITF would in turn get a subsidy of Rs.1.5 crore per MW by the NREDCAP.
Replying to a query, if environmental clearances have been secured before going ahead with the construction of the plant, Mr. Rupesh Sharma said that though it was not required under the present rules to secure consent for plants below 15 MW, the firm would still seek clearances from the Pollution Control Board.
He also said that there were proposals to augment production up to 20-21 MW in future.
The plant being designed by JITF Urban Infrastructure Ltd is being built to process over 1,200 metric tonnes of solid waste from nine municipalities in Guntur and Krishna districts. Apart from Guntur and Vijayawada municipal corporations, Tenali, Tadepalli, Mangalagiri, Sattenapalli, Chilakaluripet, Vinukonda and Narsaraopet municipalities were the partners in the ambitious project.
Guntur Commissioner said that GMC produces 350 MT of solid waste and VMC produces about 550 MT of waste and have already placed a system of scientific solid waste collection, segregation and disposal.
Mr. Sharma also added that the company would be using the boiler technology to dry the solid waste and burn it to produce energy.
The technology would be more advantageous to conventional land fills which could produce toxic gases, he added.
