The Belagavi City Corporation is embarking on an innovative and daring venture by establishing a power generation plant that harnesses the potential of wet waste. This groundbreaking project is set to be inaugurated during the upcoming legislative session in December at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (SVS), marking a significant milestone in the city’s sustainable development journey. The seeds of this remarkable initiative were sown approximately eight months ago.
The construction of the plant has been successfully completed on the premises of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), which generously provided 12 guntas of land for this noble endeavor. The plant underwent a meticulously planned and executed trial run on a Monday evening, showcasing its exceptional efficiency and functionality. Once fully operational, it is projected to generate approximately 200 units of power daily, greatly benefiting the APMC yard. During the testing phase, cow dung was ingeniously utilized as a renewable power source.
The Belagavi City Corporation has already amassed an impressive five tonnes of cow dung and is actively collecting an additional five tonnes to ensure the plant’s initial sustainability. After the plant is running smoothly, it will transition to utilizing wet waste, a resource that is abundantly available. According to reliable sources within the BCC, the APMC yard generates a substantial amount of the required wet waste on a daily basis. Moreover, with the city producing over 100 tonnes of wet waste daily, a consistent and reliable supply of feedstock is assured.
The water connection for the plant has already been established, and the BCC has submitted an application to Hescom for a power connection, which includes a transformer. If everything goes according to plan, the plant will begin producing power next week.
The City Corporation is currently operating three biogas plants in various parks across the city. The biogas produced from these plants is utilized for cooking food at Indira Canteens, night shelters, and government girls’ hostels. This power plant employs a similar technology but with different mechanisms and equipment, enabling us to generate electricity.
A very good initiative by the Belgaum City Corporation. However, the waste collected through Door to Door collection is not being segregated into Dry and Wet at the time of collection. It is therefore not understood as to how this novel scheme is going to be implemented.