Bengaluru: After several unsuccessful waste-to-energy projects, the Karnataka government is turning its attention to converting Bengaluru’s wet waste into gas. With the exception of KPCL’s Bidadi plant, earlier facilities failed to operate as planned, prompting a renewed focus on waste-to-gas solutions, reports The Times of India.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday laid the foundation stone for the first phase of a solid-waste segregation unit at Kannahalli and expressed support for a private project aimed at turning municipal waste into compressed biogas. He said that more than a dozen firms had earlier claimed they could convert the city’s waste into energy, but none of them succeeded even after receiving Cabinet approval. Most permissions have since been revoked, with only one or two exceptions.
Shivakumar, who recently inspected facilities in Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, said that although some plants reportedly generate as much as 24 MW of power, gas conversion provides a more dependable result. He added that space limitations have forced the government to reduce its plan for four biogas units to just two tendered locations.
GAIL India has agreed to set up a ₹123-crore waste-to-gas plant, while Carbon Masters has proposed an investment of ₹300 crore, including ₹100 crore in the first phase. Shivakumar said the model would be expanded across Karnataka if the current projects prove successful.
