Grand power plans for garbage

Shirajiv Sirimane

POWER: In a bid to solve the garbage problem in the City of Colombo the Government is to launch a programme to generate electricity using garbage as the basis raw material.

A 50 acre plot of land in Muthurajawela has been identified for this project and Cabinet has also approved this venture. A German investor too has been identified for this venture.

According to an official of the Ministry of Power and Energy, 32 mega watts of power would be generated from this proposed project.

The Government is also looking at constructing similar power generating plants in Kandy and Galle where there is garbage in abundance.

"The power generated from these projects would be added to the national grid and it would help to reduce the high cost of electricity," he said.

The German Government is also having a similar project at the Frankfurt harbour and in many other areas to generate electricity not only from garbage but also from human waste.

According to data, the Ceylon Electricity Board has lost Rs. 5 billion in the first quarter of 2006 mainly due to the fuel price hike. The generation cost has increased from Rs. 12. 50 to 15.00 per unit due to this. The CEB is losing Rs. 6 per unit while generating power.

A total of 6186-million kilowatt-hours (KWh) were utilised for last year with the highest (2446 KWh) being used for industrial use.

In addition 2403 KWh were used for domestic, 1254 for general and 83 KWh for illuminating of street lamps.