Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation building. (File)The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) ambitious plan to generate energy out of the waste at Deonar dumping yard has been delayed, yet again. The four bidders that have shown their interest in the project have sought an extension, sixth so far, to conduct a contour survey and estimate calorific value of the waste. The civic body has extended the bidding deadline till next month.
A calorific value (CV) is the energy contained in a fuel or food, determined by measuring the heat produced by the complete combustion of a specified quantity of it. Debris reduces the calorific value of the waste, which in turn brings down the generation of energy after waste processing. The bidders had given the same reason in last December, too, while seeking an extension.
“The companies expressed concerns regarding the waste at the site and wanted more time to survey before bidding. It is a unique project and a first in India,” said Vishwas Shankarwar, deputy municipal commissioner, solid waste management department, when asked about the reasons for the delay in the project.
The civic body, which has proposed Rs 100 crore for the project in the 2019-20 budget, aims to start it by May this year.
As per the civic body records, in a pre-bid meeting last year, 16 bidders had attended the meeting and showed positive response. Later, however, only four bidders showed interest in the project. After many unsuccessful attempts to start the processing of waste in order to generate 25 MW electricity daily, the BMC had reduced the amount of waste that would be processed. The contractor will now have the task to construct a waste-to-energy plant at Deonar that can process 600 tonnes of waste a day and generate 10 MW of electricity daily. Once successful, two more such plants will be constructed, said an official.
The new deadline has now been pushed till next month. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 571 crore for the two proposed waste-to-energy plants at Deonar dumping ground. The plants will be implemented on a design-build-operate-maintenance basis. No technology has been specified, but one of the six technologies approved by the Union Urban Development (UD) Ministry will be considered.
