Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) planned to establish a waste-to-energy project at its Turbhe landfill site in Navi Mumbai to manage and dispose of solid waste generated in the Navi Mumbai area under the Solid Waste Management Act 2016 on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.The estimated cost of setting up the Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility project was Rs 2,100 crore. In the first phase, Rs 910 crore was appropriated for a bio-gas energy plant and a waste-to-electricity facility. Of this, NMMC planned to spend Rs 181 crore on providing basic structures, while the concessionaire was to fund Rs 729 crore for establishing the project.NMMC commissioner Kailas Shinde said the project was significant for the health of Navi Mumbai citizens and for the smart city, and he took personal interest in it. Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre, who followed up the issue at Mantralaya level, said she worked for many years towards ensuring that a municipal corporation like Navi Mumbai had its own waste-to-energy project, citing the rapidly growing population of Navi Mumbai and the increasing problem of domestic and industrial waste.According to Shinde, a Letter of Award (LOA) was given to R & B Greentech LLP for developing an integrated project on a PPP basis under the Solid Waste Management Act 2016 for the management and disposal of solid waste generated in Navi Mumbai. This ensured the commencement of the project soon. Phase I is to be completed in the next 36 months. NMMC will have a 26% stake in the project.The project is to be created on the landfill site, which spread across 100 acres. The site currently received over 850 MT of municipal solid waste daily for segregation, processing, and scientific disposal, where a waste-to-manure plant and construction and demolition waste plants are in existence. The facility is to be constructed to dispose of 850 tonnes of solid waste generated in Navi Mumbai, of which 100 tonnes were collected from the APMC market alone.The development plan of the waste segregation system is for a projected population of 32.23 lakh by the year 2038. Shinde said the project details were scrutinised by IIT-Bombay. It was proposed to set up a project with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day.This includes Bio-CNG with a capacity of 450 tonnes per day for integrated processing of wet organic waste, including organic waste and coconut husks sorted by the waste classification system, and bio-char from the mulch produced from roadside trees and gardens. It also included around 600 tonnes per annum for thermal incineration of classified Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). A Waste to Energy (WTE) project is also proposed.The electricity generated from the project is estimated to be 27 megawatts per day through green open access mode. The sewage disposal centres of the civic area, the sewage treatment centres, and the offices of NMMC will use the generated power. “It would save a hefty amount for NMMC while buying power at Rs 5.5 per unit for the next 20 years, as compared to the electricity consumption charges being paid for its establishments. NMMC will also use the Bio-CNG from the project for its transport buses at a cheaper price,” said Shinde.The cost of disposing of waste will drop significantly from the current rate of Rs 500 per tonne to Rs 385 per tonne. The landfill area was to be cleared with the coming of the project. A sewage treatment plant was also to be constructed using the heat exchanger generated from this project, and the sludge generated was to be collected and converted into electricity. The project included the construction of a solar power plant. The estimated construction period for this project was 36 months. After commissioning, the agency was to maintain the facility for the next 20 years.
