Construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius will help cut use of landfill for disposal of municipal waste by making it possible to use it as a source of energy. The plant will treat up to 160 000 tonnes a year of waste identified as non-recyclable and non-reusable following sorting, mainly at mechanical biological treatment facilities. This waste will be incinerated for simultaneous recovery of heat and production of electricity – a process known as cogeneration.
- 01 June 2018
The plant will use a grate furnace, as this can accommodate large quantities and varieties of waste, and optimise movement of waste through the combustion chamber.
The water pipe steam boiler in which the energy is recovered, the cogeneration equipment and the condensing economiser, which reduces the amount of fuel needed for the boiler, have been selected in order to ensure efficient energy generation.
Combustion of waste produces gases containing pollutants which are conveyed through a flue. Semi-dry technology has been chosen to clean these gases as it increases the efficiency of the cleaning process, is relatively inexpensive and does not waste water.
Indispensable EU funding
Planning was carried out in line with the waste hierarchy, which sets out options for managing waste in terms of what is best for the environment. EU funding ensured that construction of the waste-to-energy plant and a biomass-fired power plant on the same site went ahead.
The budget for construction of the waste-to-energy plant is over EUR 147 million, of which around EUR 48.5 million is supplied through the EU’s Cohesion Fund. The rest of the financing comes from private investment, a commercial bank loan and a loan of some EUR 74 million from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
Scheduled to open by the end of 2019, the plant will have a capacity (the amount of power it can generate at any given time) of some 70 megawatts (MW). Of this, electricity will account for 16-20 MW and heat for 51-55 MW.
The facility will operate at 100 % capacity for an estimated average of 8 000 hours a year. It will thus generate 34-39 gigawatt hours (GWh) of heat and 8-15 GWh of electricity a month (around 413 and 158 GWh a year respectively).
Less landfill and emissions, more renewable energy
The project will implement the provisions of Lithuania’s solid waste management plan by cutting the share of municipal waste disposed of in landfill to under 10 % by 2023. This is based on the assumption that inert residue – that which is neither chemically nor biologically reactive and will not decompose – from mechanical biological treatment facilities, and slag and ash from the waste-to-energy plant, can be considered as material for filling in or landscaping of landfill sites rather than waste.
In addition, the plant will increase the share of local renewable sources used for generation of energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 130 000 tonnes annually (CO2 equivalent) – about 10 % of current greenhouse gases emissions from Lithuania’s waste sector.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Development of capacities to use municipal waste for recovery of energy in Vilnius city” is EUR 147 464 520, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 48 553 044 through the “EU Structural Funds Investments” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.