According to Wikipedia, a waste-to-energy plant is a waste management facility that combusts wastes to produce electricity. It is also called a trash-to-energy, municipal waste incineration, energy recovery, or resource recovery plant. Unlike old incinerators, modern energy recovery facilities incorporate mechanisms that remove hazardous or recyclable materials before combustion.
By combustion, the volume and weight of waste material is reduced by 90 percent and 75 percent respectively.
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| Typical W2E plant schematic |
The application of waste to energy plants in Africa is still very scarce due to the complex technology and immense initial capital requirements. This post will detail some of the facilities that are already installed and those currently under construction in Africa.
Perhaps the biggest setback is the lack of incentives for green waste management solutions. The power and heat generated by W2E plants do not economically justify the installation of a W2E plant. Thus incentives, such as carbon credits and other forms of compensation are a requirement to initiate such projects.
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| Comparative cost of generating power |
Installed W2E plants in Africa
1. Ethiopia 50 MW Koshe W2E plant
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) and Cambridge Industries, a United Kingdom based firm, signed an agreement January 4, 2013 for the construction of a 50 MW plant in Addis. Feasibilty studies were also conducted in other cities throughout Ethiopia to recommend future projects in various cities
including Dire Dawa, Adama, Mekelle, Gonder, Behar Dar, Hawasa, and
Jimma. This will be the country’s first waste-to-energy Project and
will process 350,000 tons of waste annually.
The plant was 75% complete as of the end of 2015 and expected to be operational in 2016.
More details will come soon...
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Sources
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste-to-energy_plant
2. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2014/01/an-independent-engineering-evaluation-of-waste-to-energy-technologies.html 3. http://www.cambridge-industries.com/ |
