DAVAO CITY is planning to build a waste-to-energy facility that can produce around 12 megawatts (MW) of electricity once completed over the next four years, a city official said.
“It’s planned to accommodate 600 tons [of waste] per day,” said Tristan Dwight P. Domingo, assistant city administrator of Davao City, adding that the facility can generate “somewhere around 12 MW” of electricity.
“The timeline now that we are working on is, the facility must be operational before first quarter of 2022, probably April,” he said in a chance interview.
He said the project will be funded in part by official development assistance (ODA) from the Japanese government, with private sector investors possibly contributing.
Mr. Domingo was referring to the ¥5.013-billion, or P2.5-billion, grant from Japan for the development of waste-to-energy facilities in Davao City.
Japan’s grant will be used to build and manage waste-to-energy facilities to reduce the city’s solid waste and convert it into electricity.
On the need for private investment to supplement ODA, Mr. Domingo said: “The technology is very expensive. We are looking into trying to implement this with private partners,” he said.
He said that when Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was doing the study for the project, it was looking at a cost of around $100 million, or about P5.23 billion.
The estimated funding was based on the city’s waste output in past years and projections for the next 20 years, he said.
“Right now the commitment of Davao City is to provide the land where this facility will be built,” he said, adding that city hall is currently finalizing the location.
“Also, there will be the operations side. We’ll be required to pay a certain fee to process the garbage,” he said. — Victor V. Saulon
