Bengaluru's Ambitious Waste-to-Energy Model Faces Major Setbacks
More than a decade after the introduction of biomethanation plants in Bengaluru, designed to transform domestic waste into valuable biogas, the city's decentralised waste-to-energy initiative is encountering significant challenges. Nearly half of these units are now defunct, generating minimal revenue and raising concerns about the viability of this eco-friendly approach.
Widespread Dysfunction and High Costs
Out of the 12 plants established across Bengaluru, five are currently non-functional and urgently require repairs. These include facilities in KR Market, Begur, Mangammanapalya, Kuvempunagar, and Varthur wards. While restoration efforts are planned for the first four, the Varthur unit has effectively been removed from the system after the contractor reportedly dismantled machinery due to unpaid operation and maintenance dues.
Ironically, each plant continues to incur a monthly upkeep cost of approximately Rs 85,000 for the exchequer, despite most failing to monetise the biogas produced. Officials from Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) acknowledge that the plants are too small in scale to achieve commercial viability.
Financial and Operational Hurdles
Each biomethanation facility was initially constructed at a cost of Rs 80 lakh, with an additional Rs 50 lakh allocated for three years of operations, bringing the total to Rs 1.3 crore per plant. However, the expense of establishing new plants has surged dramatically to around Rs 2.5 crore. Two new plants in Koramangala and Kammanahalli have been built but await commissioning, while sites are being identified for two additional units.
Currently operational plants are situated in Aramane Nagar, Gandhinagar, Yediyur, Pattabhiram Nagar, Koramangala, and Domlur. Each is designed to process up to 50 tonnes of wet waste daily, yet officials report that energy output remains modest, at just 4-5% of the processed waste.
Internal Consumption and Infrastructure Gaps
BSWML assistant general manager Santosh Kaddi explained that nearly half of the biogas generated is consumed internally to operate the plants themselves. "Currently, about 40-50% of biogas generated by a plant is used up in running the plant. This is identified as the captive usage. The rest is used to power streetlights," he stated.
A more significant obstacle is the lack of infrastructure for storing or transporting the gas for broader utilisation. Without proper storage mechanisms, surplus gas often goes to waste. "In some cases, when the generator is faulty, the gas needs to be flared as surplus gas cannot be stored," Kaddi added.
Koramangala: A Rare Success Story
The biomethanation plant in Koramangala stands out as an exception. Established through an initiative by the local residents' welfare association using CSR funds and managed by Saahas NGO, this plant supplies biogas as fuel to nearby restaurants. It collects wet waste from approximately 10,000 households daily.
Som Narayan of Carbon Masters, the agency operating the plant, noted that the facility produces five tonnes of biogas per day. "The plant generates a monthly revenue of Rs 2.4 lakh by selling biogas to restaurants. This covers the operating costs, including the electricity bill of Rs 1 lakh and the labour cost of Rs 1.2 lakh," he said.
Future Prospects: A Mega Plant by GAIL
Looking ahead, a mega biomethanation plant with a capacity of 300 tonnes per day is planned in collaboration with Gail (India) Limited. This facility will be located on the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation premises near Hosur Road.
Gail chief general manager Sanjay Kumar Singh shared, "The plant is expected to produce around 10-12 tonnes of compressed bio-gas per day, which will be circulated through the domestic piped natural gas network in the city." He added that the process of enrolling a contractor is currently underway, signalling a potential shift towards larger-scale, more integrated waste management solutions.
