Cost Analysis of Waste-to-Energy Plant

In the paper the techno-economical analysis of the waste-to-energy plant that includes combined heat and power production is presented. The technology of waste combustion on the grate is chosen as the proven technology most often in use even today. Selection of this technology assumes application of all the most stringent environmental protection standards. The paper analyses two variants of flue gas cleaning systems. Due to high requirements on environmental protection, the operating and maintenance costs of the facility are rather high while the calorific value of the municipal waste burned is relatively low (around 10 MJ/kg), which brings the waste-to-energy plant in consideration at the brink of economical viability for the given annual capacity of 100.000 tons of waste and the limiting gate fee value of 105 EUR per tone of waste, if solely direct cost-effectiveness is considered. The parameters on which the cost-effectiveness of the waste-to-energy cogeneration plant depends range from purely technical like the plant capacity and the waste calorific value (including percentage of moisture and biodegradable matter) to entirely economical such as loan conditions, costs of flue gas cleaning, costs of hazardous waste disposal, revenue from selling of electricity and heat, and the most important factor – charge levied upon a waste received at a waste-to-energy plant (the gate fee). High costs of ash and residues disposal could influence the total economic viability of the plant.