MOU for waste-to-energy facility in Binaliw signed

CEBU, Philippines — A waste-to-energy facility is expected to rise in the mountain barangay of Binaliw in Cebu City after two private companies involved in the project signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday, September 30.

The MOU was signed by ARN Waste Management Incorporated and Netherland's Amsterdam Waste and Environment Consultancy Technology (AWECT).

ARN will manage the relationships with local stakeholders, among others, while AWECT will be the engineering partner and technology provider for the project.

The MOU says ARN and AWECT have identified the opportunities to develop WTE in Cebu City using AWECT’s high efficiency technology.

The MOU indicates that the two firms have complementary skills and expertise in relation to the project and that they intend to cooperate with each other to investigate further and develop the project.

Impact

Sherwin Santos, president of ARN Builders, said the facility will not only help solve the city’s garbage problem but will also address its power deficit.

Santos said a Thermal Reduction System will be used for the project. The system is said to be environmentally-friendly and causes no harm to human beings as it has low dust emission.

"This is to show our support to local government units of Cebu City and the rest of Cebu Province and to the entire country," he said.

Once the project starts, it will be the first of its size and level as far as integrated waste management in the Philippines.

The property in Binaliw is about 20 hectares.

"We are hopeful that we will be setting the Waste-to-energy standards for the Philippines," Santos said.

Sietse Agema, chief technology officer of AWECT, said the project will cost around $150 million and, using 1,000 tons of garbage a day, can generate at least 20 megawatts and up to 40 megawatts of power per hour.

To date, Cebu City has 600 to 700 tons of garbage per day and the WTE facility has a capacity of 3,000 tons of garbage per day.

Once in place, the facility will welcome garbage from other local government units.

Santos said they will also work with garbage haulers so that the project will be environmentally compliant through awareness in the hauling process.

Process

Santos said the project is still undergoing several studies. The entire process will involve pre-feasibility studies, feasibility studies, formation of consortium, submission of a joint bid, design, financing, construction, commissioning, ownership, operation, and maintenance.

The project will be developed in two phases.

Phase 1 will involve a feasibility study for the consortium to verify that the project can be built with an attractive business case.

Phase II will commence if the parties involved in the project consider Phase 1 a success and agree mutually to complete the necessary studies and work for the submission of the bid. (FREEMAN)