The Kerala government appears to have abandoned a majority of its Waste-To- Energy (WTE) plant projects in various districts, citing reasons including the failure of private agencies contracted for the work to achieve financial closure within the stipulated time period and the unavailability of land.
As per the original plan, WTE plants were proposed to be set up under a public private partnership model in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kollam and Malappuram to process non-recyclable dry waste and generate electricity. But, according to an order issued by the Local Self-Government department last week, the projects proposed for Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kochi and Kollam have been cancelled. Only the project in Palakkad has achieved financial closure. The construction work has also begun.
Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh told The Hindu that the government has not entirely abandoned the idea of WTE plants.
“Some of these projects had to be cancelled due to undue delays in implementation. We are also thinking of implementing the compressed biogas (CBG) plant model in more cities as we could implement such a project in Kochi without much hassles. The plant will be opened soon. The government is also considering a bigger WTE plant in Kochi, which will have the capacity to meet the demands of the entire State,” said Mr. Rajesh.
The CBG plant in Kochi, being set up in partnership with the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), will have a capacity to treat 150 tonnes of biodegradable waste a day. In Thiruvananthapuram, suitable land could not be identified for the WTE project. Meanwhile, the department has identified a land which was earlier leased for clay mining to the English India Clay Company as a suitable one for setting up a CBG plant in partnership with BPCL.
Setbacks in other cities
In Kozhikode, the project was to be implemented by a Bengaluru-based consortium led by Zonta Infratech Private Limited. Despite multiple deadline extensions, Zonta Infratech failed to initiate the project.
The criticism that the company faced for its poor handling of legacy waste at the Brahmapuram plant in Kochi after a massive fire broke out there in 2023 also led to the annulment of the contract by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). The proposed project for Kollam, also contracted to Zonta Infotech, was cancelled for similar reasons. The Kochi Corporation had not signed the concessionaire agreement with Zonta Infotech.
Now proposals are being considered at Kozhikode for setting up a resource recovery facility (RRF), sanitary waste incineration plant, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant, Construction and demolition waste plant or an Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) in the available land.
When the government first announced the idea of WTE plants, environmentalists had opposed the projects which were said to be unsustainable. They also raised the issue of the high cost of energy production through such plants as well as the low calorific value of the waste generated here. The Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad had pointed out that the project was against the State government’s policy of decentralised waste management.
Published – January 12, 2025 06:31 pm IST