BENGALURU: Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao said steps will be taken to establish more biogas plants within GBA limits. After visiting the waste-to-energy facility at Koramangala under the Bengaluru South City Corporation limits, he said a comprehensive study will be conducted to produce biogas from wet waste in the city.
Rao said establishing each decentralised units in five city corporations would require two to three acres of land. In the short term, existing facilities will be upgraded to produce biogas, and steps will be taken to supply the gas to nearby hotels.
“At present, biogas is being produced from 10 tonnes of waste at the (Koramangala) facility and supplied to a nearby hotel. Steps will be taken to increase this capacity,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) Karee Gowda said the biogas plant at Koramangala, with a capacity of 8.5 tonnes, supplies around 120 kg of biogas daily to a nearby hotel. At Rs 70 per kg, this generates approximately Rs 8,400 per day.
Of the 12 biogas plants earlier constructed by the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), six are currently operational. Each plant processes about five tonnes of wet waste per day. Renovation work is underway to revive the remaining six plants.
“At biogas plants, around 30–50 kg of biogas can be produced from one tonne of wet waste. Accordingly, about 200 kg of gas is produced daily at each plant. The generated biogas is used for internal consumption within the plants, and surplus gas is used to generate electricity through generators to light nearby parks,” Gowda said.
He added that steps have been taken to construct four new decentralised biomethanation plants. Two of these plants, in Ward 151 and Ward 27, have been completed and will become operational soon. Construction of the remaining two plants in Ward 196 and Ward 56 is underway.
With the cooperation of GAIL, work has also begun on a new biogas plant capable of processing about 300 tonnes of wet waste per day. In addition, approval has been given to sign an agreement with Sataram Company to establish a plant in Kannahalli to produce biogas from around 1,000 tonnes of wet waste.