Waste to Energy Plant, Nashik, Maharashtra

Processing Capacity: 30 Tonne/day
Capital Cost: INR 8.02 Crore (INR 6.8 Cr from GIZ and 1.2 Cr from M/s Vilholi Waste Management System Pvt LtD
Operational since: December, 2017
O&M: NMC will give INR 5 lakh per annum for management
Power Generation: 3300 kWh/day

Like many cities in India, the city of Nashik is also struggling with citywide Solid Waste and Waste¬water management. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an integrat¬ed approach to solid waste and wastewater management on the one hand and control of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions on the other hand. The Waste to Energy Project in Nashik is one such solution through co-processing of septage (faecal sludge) with organic solid waste and generating energy to create a sustainable business model.

This project is an attempt to show¬case a viable business model for implementation of waste to energy projects through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and is built on a comprehensive financial and oper¬ational model. The plant is planned to treat biodegradable waste and septage generated in the city and generate energy through biogas for feeding it into the Maharashtra power grid.

The project in Nashik opens possibilities to develop and replicate sustainable Waste to Energy technology with the potential of reducing investment costs for the public sector and to achieve sustainability in operation. The project closes the loops by creating additional ben¬efits like reduction of carbon footprint and resource efficiency, which for India is of rising economic and environmental importance.

Organic waste and septage is treated separately. The screened organic waste is fed to a crusher and then mixed with septage to form slurry. The slurry is continuously agitated and forwarded to the digester. Option of pasteurization of septage using excess heat is kept open for further use of excess digestate to produce organic fertiliser. The co-fermentation process takes place in the bio-digester. After purification and reduction of moisture the gas is sent to a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit.

Daily 10 to 15 tons of food and vegetable waste from approximately 500 restaurants and 10 to 20 tons of septage from 400 community toilets is collected by trucks and delivered to the plant. Approx. 2,500m3 biogas and subsequently 3,300 kWh of electricity is produced per day. The generated power is fed into the power grid. The nutrient-rich effluent from the earlier treated septage can be used as moisturizing agent in the composting process, thus closing the loop of recycling and reusing waste.

Mr Dirk Walther
Project Director
Waste to Energy
Support to National Urban Sanitation Policy II
dirk.walther@giz.de