Energy, LG depts to work on waste-to-energy project in city

The Sindh Energy and the Local Government departments will work jointly on the project to generate electricity from the municipal waste produced in Karachi.

Karachi generates 8,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, which can generate up to 200 megawatts of electricity.

A meeting jointly chaired by Sindh Minister for Local Government, Information, Religious Affairs and Forests Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh was held in this connection at the Sindh Energy Department on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Local Bodies Secretary Najam Shah, Sindh Energy Secretary Tariq Ali Shah, Sindh Finance Department’ Head of Public-Private Partnership Unit Khalid Sheikh, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Managing Director Zubair Channa and other relevant officials of the Sindh Energy Department.

It was informed in the meeting that about 8,000 tonnes of solid waste are generated daily in Karachi which can generate up to 200 MW of electricity.

In the meeting, the ministers said the most important benefit of the waste-to-energy project was that it could dispose of Karachi's waste in an environmentally friendly manner.

“The project is capable enough of generating electricity through a renewable mean. The work on the project of generating electricity from waste in Karachi should be expedited and in this regard, the final policy report should be completed in two weeks for submission to the Sindh chief minister.”

A committee headed by the LG secretary was also constituted to prepare a policy report of the project. The committee will include the secretary energy, the head of the public-private partnership unit and other relevant officers.

On the occasion, the energy minister said work should be expeditiously done to implement the project to generate electricity from waste so Sindh could be the first province to implement this eco-friendly project to consume the municipal waste.

The meeting also decided that the project to generate electricity from waste should be extended to other cities of the province after Karachi. It was informed in the meeting that the landfill site was at the most suitable place for installing the waste-to-energy generation power project as some companies have also expressed keen interest in the project.

The meeting was directed to review all aspects of the project and submit a policy report within two weeks’ time.