City’s 1st bio-CNG plant to be functional from February end

The city’s first Bio-CNG (compressed natural gas) plant, which would convert wet waste into cooking gas, will become functional from the end of February as the Greater Chennai Corporation is in the final stages of construction.

N Mahesan, chief engineer (solid waste management), Chennai Corporation, said the trial operation would begin in a few weeks. “The new Bio-CNG plant has come up on Poonamallee High Road and will have a capacity of 100 tonnes a day,” he said. He added that the Corporation is setting up seven BioCNG plants in five places, including one that is set to go on stream in Poonamallee High Road. The seven plants will have a combined capacity of 700 tonnes per day.

Two plants, each with a capacity of 100 tonnes, are under construction in Madhavaram whereas Sholinganallur and Koyambedu will have 100 tonne-capacity plants each. Also, two plants with a capacity of 100 tonnes each will come up in Pallikaranai dumping yard. Each Bio-CNG plant is being constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

The project is being implemented under public-private partnership

The Corpn is setting up seven Bio-CNG plants in five other places, which will have a combined capacity of 700 tonnes per day

Chief engineer, Chennai Corpn

and the private concessionaire, who has been selected to run the plant will operate and maintain the plants for 20 years. As the cost of operation and machinery is being borne by the private firms, the civic body will allow the firms to earn revenue by selling the Bio-CNG.

“They can sell the Bio-CNG to hotels, oil corporations and others as per their wish. But they should pay a certain amount as royalty to the civic body,” Mahesan said. On an average, the city generates more than 5,000 tonnes of waste every day of which more than 50 per cent is wet waste. The civic body already has biomethanation plants, bio-gas plants and incinerators to process waste. Also, composting wet waste is being carried out in parks.

—N Mahesan,