Guangzhou's Garbage Goldmine: From Waste to Renewable

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000180 C O R R E C T E D COPY - PARA 9 CHANGE ALL GIGAWATTS TO MEGAWATTS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/PCI STATE ALSO PASS USTR FOR CHINA OFFICE STATE PASS TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE EPA FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN SENV PGOV SOCI ECON CH SUBJECT: Guangzhou's Garbage Goldmine: From Waste to Renewable Energy ¶1. (U) Summary. Is trash the ticket to solving Guangzhou's energy woes? The city government sure thinks so. Local officials are hoping that converting more of Guangzhou's waste into energy will help solve power shortages and strengthen environmental protection. Two garbage power plants are already operating; there are plans for further expansion. The city aims to burn all of its garbage for electricity by 2015. However, a lack of power lines for transmission and distribution, landfills and incinerators stand in the way of meeting this goal. Interestingly, the decline in consumption in south China due to the global financial crisis has also led to a decline in the amount of garbage produced. It is unclear whether this is a temporary phenomenon or whether less garbage spells less energy in the future. End Summary. -------------- Is Garbage Guangzhou's Energy Goldmine? -------------- ¶2. (SBU) With persistent power shortages and a mandate to diversify its energy mix, it's no wonder that Guangzhou has turned to garbage to help meet its energy needs. According to the 11th Five-year Plan, China will construct 60 refuse-fired power plants, and under the National Waste Disposal Plan, China is planning to increase waste-derived energy to 30% of waste disposal by 2030. Guangdong Province will be a leader in this effort. Director General of the Guangzhou Environment and Sanitation Bureau, Lu Zhiyi, recently announced that Guangzhou would incinerate all residential garbage to generate electricity by 2015. -------------- Xingfeng Landfill Methane Recovery Plant -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Xingfeng Municipal Solid Waste Sanitary Landfill, Guangzhou's only municipal-funded landfill, is looking to help bridge Guangzhou's electricity gap and promote renewable energy by capitalizing on its primary resource - garbage. Constructed as one of the key environmental projects in Guangzhou's 10th Five-year Plan, Xingfeng was awarded first place among landfills in China's 2007 Modern Cities Inspection. Xingfeng's Simon Sandral, General Manager of Veolia Environmental Services (the plant's operating 
company),tells us that the plant has a total capacity of 25.6 million tons of municipal waste, excluding hazardous waste. Xingfeng is the first Chinese waste treatment facility designed and operated by a multinational company. ¶4. (U) With an initial investment of USD 7 million, Xingfeng began to generate electricity in 2004 through a process of methane recovery, using landfill gas to generate energy. Xingfeng's power plant is equipped with three-1 megawatt GE generators, and one-2 megawatt Caterpillar generator. Xingfeng currently generates 10,500 cubic meters of landfill gas per hour. Capturing gas through landfill pipelines and converting it into a renewable energy source reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be generated from decomposition if the garbage were simply land-filled. ¶5. (SBU) Xingfeng's renewable energy project is earning carbon emissions credits under the Carbon Development Mechanism (CDM). Following a 2007 agreement, Xingfeng is currently trading its credits with ICECAP, a UK-based carbon business. Through 2012, ICECAP plans to invest USD 50 million into the development of Xingfeng's methane-based power generation projects. In return, Xingfeng has promised to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by five million tons. This agreement is one of the first CDM Carbon Projects to be established in Guangdong. -------------- Likeng Garbage Incineration Plant -------------- ¶6. (U) Likeng Waste-to-Energy Plant was Guangzhou's first waste to energy (WtE) incineration power plant. Waste-to-energy plants burn trash to recover energy and produce electricity. Phase I of the project commenced operation in 2005 with a total investment of RMB 750 million (approx. USD 110 million). Equipped with two incinerators, Likeng can take in 1,040 metric tons of garbage per day and with its one-22 MW generator, generate 130 million KWh per year. On average, every ton of garbage generates 360 kwh of electricity, and every two tons of incinerated garbage can produce the same amount of energy as one ton of coal. China's first WtE plant was constructed in Shenzhen in 1988. ¶7. (U) Phase II, operation of Guangzhou's second WtE plant, will begin June 2009 and is expected to have a daily garbage intake capacity of 2,000 tons per day, almost one-fifth of Guangzhou's total. Phase II's power plant is expected to generate 200 million kWh of electricity annually. With an investment of RMB 970 million (USD 140million),the power plant will utilize Danish technologies to help reduce waste gas emissions. -------------- Challenges: Capacity and Transmission Lines -------------- ¶8. (SBU) It is unlikely that Guangzhou will be able to meet its goal of incinerating all municipal garbage, or of significantly increasing its waste-derived electricity generation, according to Sandral. Two of the biggest challenges facing the plan are the lack of landfill and incinerating facilities (due to a growing supply of garbage),and insufficient electricity transmission lines. Xingfeng is designed to take in a maximum of 2,000 tons of garbage daily; however, it currently accepts upwards of 7,300 tons accounting for nearly 80% of the 9,776 tons of waste generated each day in Guangzhou. The landfill is filling up at double the initially planned rate due to a lack of alternatives. Xingfeng landfill is likely to hit its capacity by 2015. Likeng's facilities are similarly overworked. Guangzhou officials are currently planning to build another landfill in the valley neighboring Xingfeng pending land acquisition. In addition, U.S.-based energy firm Covanta has signed a deal with Guangzhou Development Industry to construct other garbage-to-energy plants. ¶9. (SBU) Lack of power lines also constrains the contribution of garbage plants to Guangzhou's power supply. Sandral told us that Xingfeng started off with a transmitting capacity of six gigawatts; however, the transmission lines were only capable of accommodating two gigawatts, resulting in a loss of electricity. Sandral said the Power Bureau has been slow to authorize the construction of sufficient transmission lines. Currently, Xingfeng feeds five gigawatts of electricity into the Guangzhou power grid; in the next six months, Xingfeng is hoping to add two megawatts, if it can raise the necessary capital. -------------- --- Economic Downturn Affects Trash Supply Too -------------- --- ¶10. (SBU) Although unlikely to change long-term trends, the global economic downturn has caused a substantial decline in the amount of municipal waste generated in Guangzhou, according to Sandral. Starting around July 2008, garbage volumes dropped significantly due to the effect of inflation on the consumption of food and fuel. As Sandral explained, Guangzhou residents simply stopped eating out and began staying at home more. Now, with the continued downturn of the global economy, and China's growth slowing to the lowest levels seen in a decade, trends of reduced consumption continue. Since mid-2008, Xingfeng's garbage intake has declined by 6% where previously there had been 6% growth. GOLDBERG