Four energy-from-waste plants are to be built in the Russian capital Moscow. A consortium consisting of the Swiss clean-tech firm Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) and the Russian technology firm ZiO-Podolsk was awarded the contract by the client, the Russian operating company Alternative Generating Company. The plants will make a substantial contribution toward reducing the number of landfill sites by treating the residual waste of around 5 million inhabitants while powering 1.5 million people.
On July 11, 2019, the Russian power plant operator Alternative Generating Company-1 (AGC-1), an SPC and part of the RT-Invest Group and a consortium of the Swiss-Japanese cleantech firm Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) and the Russian technology company ZiO-Podolsk, a subsidiary of Atomenergomash (AEM), signed the contract to be the technology provider to build four energy-from-waste (EfW) plants in Moscow Region.
According to HZI, HZI and AEM will deliver all of the process technology, including HZI’s first-class combustion technology and state-of-the-art flue gas treatment. In addition, the consortium will be responsible for a range of overarching services and monitoring processes. This is HZI’s first project in Russia.
We are proud to deliver our proprietary, proven technology, and to be part of this important project in Russia, remarked Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, CEO at HZI.
Moscow’s war on landfills
The idea of Energy-from-Waste (EfW) is relatively new to the Moscow Region and Russia in general. A total of four EfW plants (Moscow 1-4) are to be constructed on the city’s land over the next four years. Construction of the first plant has already begun around 80 km southeast of the city center.
The new plants form part of the Green Tariff, a programme to promote renewable energy launched in 2017. In addition to subsidies, the new facility will be funded by waste disposal fees and the sale of electricity and bottom ash.
The EfW plants will help the city to optimise its waste management by closing and steadily reducing its many landfill sites. Each 75 MWe plant will process some 700 000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per annum. This means that once all four plants are built, a total of 2.8 million tonnes, of residual waste per year, the waste volume from more than 5 million people, will be processed.
Part of the electricity will be used to run the plants, and part will be fed into the grid supplying power to around 1.5 million people in Moscow.
The integration of EfW technology is an important milestone in the introduction of a progressive and sustainable waste management economy in Russia. As a company, we are pleased to be playing a key role in the construction and operation of Moscow Region’s plants, said Andrey Shipelov, CEO of RT-Invest.
Proven technology adapted to local needs
The four plants will feature a similar design and state-of-the-art HZI technology that is already in use at several hundred sites around the world. This includes combustion with the HZI Grate, the water-steam cycle, and a multi-stage HZI flue gas treatment system that meets all European emissions standards and even falls well below the current limits.
Geographical factors pose additional challenges in terms of construction and installation.
The weather and climate here are different to Central Europe, for instance, and we have had to take account of this in the structural design. Some technical systems that are normally placed outdoors have been moved indoors in order to protect them from the extreme cold in winter, explained Urs Altenburger, the Sales Manager responsible at HZI.
The construction of the four EfW plants will not only bring benefits for the Moscow Region in terms of waste management, but the local economy will also profit since much of the equipment and materials used will be Russian. A large number of jobs will also be created. Around 130 people will be needed to operate each completed plant, and up to 800 will be working on each site at any given time during construction.
