Shanghai Laogang MSW Landfill and WtE Plant Site Visit
- Construction Worker in Front of Sign Reading “Shanghai #2 Construction Co. Devotedly Builds Laogang Energy Reuse Facility”
The word Laogang might cause some confusion to China waste enthusiasts. Is it a landfill? Is it an incineration facility? Though the answer for now is the former, in time it will be both. I visited the Laogang waste mecca in Shanghai’s Nanhui County — some 60 km from the city center and neighbor to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport — to better understand what is going on there now and what is soon to come.
Laogang Landfill and Landfill Gas Utilization / Energy Recovery Facility
Laogang is home to China (and Asia)’s largest landfill, operational since 1989. Laogang landfill currently serves as Shanghai’s main disposal site for municipal solid waste (MSW), accepting between 8,000-10,000 tons of trash daily from 11 of Shanghai’s districts.
Laogang landfill occupies an area 4.2 km (2.6 mi) long by .8 km (.5 mi) wide.
Laogang Landfill, in the distance
In 2006, Laogang landfill was equipped with landfill gas capture and electricity generation equipment, financed by the Asia Development Bank under its Asia Pacific Carbon Fund. In total, more than USD 60 million was used for the project.
Laogang’s 12 electricity-generating turbines have a capacity of 15 megawatts (MW) and generate 110 million kWh of electricity annually. On paper, that’s enough to power over 61,000 Shanghai households every year.
The Laogang LFG scheme was initiated under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a feature of the Kyoto Protocol. Under this framework, Laogang generates carbon credits for each ton of carbon dioxide avoided through methane capture. Laogang gets money for the (expected) carbon credits, and financing for the upgrade. The purchasing party — in this case, Sweden — gets closer to meeting its Kyoto Protocol CO2 abatement commitment. Laogang landfill is expected to continue generating credits until 2031, under the original terms of the project.
Laogang landfill is owned and operated by Shanghai Municipal Solid Waste Utilization Company, a special purpose joint venture between foreign partners Veolia Environmental Services and CITIC (a state-owned investment company) and local partner Shanghai Chengtou.
Laogang Waste-to-Energy Facility
Adjacent to Laogang Landfill stands the construction site of the future Laogang waste-to-energy (WtE) facility. Construction on Laogang WtE plant is expected to conclude by 2012, with operation commencing in June, 2013.
Laogang WtE Facility, Under Construction
When finished, Laogang WtE plant will be the largest incineration facility in the world, capable of handling 3,000 tons of MSW a day. It will do this using 4 lines of grate incinerators, each with a 750 t/d capacity.
Waste will be barged in from transfer stations, then loaded onto trucks and taken to the facility. In the beginning, the trash will be loosely loaded on the barges, but eventually it will be barged in in containers for easier transfer.
According to conversations I had with partners involved in the project, there is a long-term plan to build a canal channel that leads directly to the facility, cutting out the need for the additional step of transfer to trucks only a few kilometers from the plant.
This would be a wise decision that would save significant costs and fossil fuel emissions. There are no specific details available on when the necessary water transportation infrastructure might be added to Laogang WtE Plant.
The facility will have an electrical capacity of 60 MW (two 30 MW turbines), well over twice the size of Shanghai Jiangqiao WtE plant, and will feature a dry and wet flue gas cleaning system designed to EU 2000 criteria (more stringent than Chinese standards). This is the first time for such technologically advanced equipment to be deployed in a Chinese WtE plant.
James Carmichael of Waste Management China Introduces Laogang WtE Plant Specs
Hitachi has been awarded the contract for the design, supply of equipment and technical services. However, the contract for operations has not yet been awarded, or gone out to bid.
Total investment on Laogang WtE is expected to exceed RMB 1.35 billion (USD 214 million).
The plant’s design includes a cooling tower, which will be used to lower temperatures on boilers and the generators. During the plant’s design phase, use of water from the East China Sea, only several hundred feet away, was considered. However, in the end the city did not issue the necessary permit for using seawater. The quality of the water may have had something to do with that decision.
Cooling Tower for Laogang WtE Facility, Under Construction