The first waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in the city of Noshahr, Mazandaran Province, was inaugurated by President Hassan Rouhani via a video conference on Thursday to help alleviate waste disposal problems in the popular tourist resort.
According to Barq news website, the long-delayed project that was supposed to become operational in 2013, has come on stream to help handle about 1.1 million tons a year of waste in Noshahr, Chalous and Kelardasht (three unique tourist spots) and generate three megawatts of electricity per hour.
“The plan was delayed due to environmental licenses but and procrastination in importing incineration machinery from neighboring countries because of the US unilateral sanctions,” Mazandaran's Governor General Ahmad Hossein-Zadegan said. Stretching over 2000-hectares the unit cost $14 million.
Three more WTE plants are in different stages of construction in Tonekabon, Babol and Sari (in the picturesque northern ergion).
“With a capacity to burn 3,000 tons of waste a day, the plant in Sari is 80% complete and is planned to come online next year.”
Mazandaran, which hosts millions of tourists from across the country, especially during the summer and Nowrouz (New Year) holiday season, produces 3,000 tons of trash per day. “The Sari plant will convert 30% of the waste in the province into energy.”
WTE plants will help gradually lead to the closure of landfills and collect landfill leachate — liquid contaminated with landfill pollutants — and prevent it from seeping into underground water.
A waste-to-energy plant is a facility that converts solid waste into electricity and/or heat - an ecological, cost-effective way of energy recovery. This is being increasingly considered as a potential diversification approach as nations struggle to curb carbon emissions, climate change and the dangerous impact on health and wellness.
Important Steps
Iran is taking slow but steady steps to expand WTE facilities. The Energy Ministry last year said an agreement had been reached with an unnamed Czech company to build a WTE plant in northern Gilan Province to incinerate 350 tons of municipal waste and produce 20 MW of electricity per day.
According to the state-owned Renewable Energy Organization, Tehran, Shiraz and Mashhad operate one WTE plant each albeit with a meager electricity output.
Annually 21 million tons of household waste, 32 million tons industrial waste, 8 million tons of hazardous waste and 170,000 tons of medical waste is produced in Iran.
Incinerating a ton of waste can produce 500-600 kilowatts of electricity per hour. Burning garbage also helps avoid water and soil contamination.
According to studies, an incineration plant with 1 MW capacity can reduce carbon emission by 50,000 tons per year, whereas a wind plant with the same capacity can reduce emissions by 5,000 tons at the most.
Garbage in Iran is traditionally buried in landfills. But as the population grows so does the mountain of waste. Municipalities across the world are running out of time in finding sustainable solutions.
Iran needs more incineration plants to help manage waste and prevent accumulation in landfills, Hossein-Zadegan added and said that by burning garbage, contamination of water and soil by leachate can be avoided.
Iran has the capacity to generate more than 10,000 MW of electricity from biomass (fuel derived from organic materials), with 25 cities capable of generating at least 400 MW of electricity from waste materials, Renewable Energy Organization of Iran reported.
