Karnataka's first WTE plant in Bidadi to start operations by Oct

Karnataka’s first Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant which is being set up at Bidadi is all set to start operations by October.

The plant, which is spread across 15 acres, has a capacity of 11.5 MW and is a joint project of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

“We need to work closely with the city corporations for the waste-to-energy plants to be successful since they are the ones who supply the waste. The first project is coming up in Bidadi and it will be operational in the next two to three months,” said Energy Minister K J George.

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According to senior KPCL officials, all the civil works at the plant have been completed and they are now in the process of assembling the equipment.

"Only mechanical works are pending and we should be good to go by October. The plant will be able to process 600 metric tonnes of dry waste once we start operations," a senior KPCL official said.

However, the minister added that the production costs were high and the government was hence going slow on establishing more such plants.

“Production costs in waste-to-energy plants are pretty high. We will have to spend close to Rs 8 per unit. There are a few central government subsidies that we can apply for. We will apply for them and see how we can boost our production. Once the first plant gets operational, we will see how we can take this forward,” he said.

The WTE plants usually use dry waste that ends up in landfills. Dry waste is burnt at a high temperature to ensure complete combustion and the heat generated is used to generate electricity.