Energy and materials markets

The primary objective of any proposed waste-to-energy (WTE) project is to dispose of solid waste in an economically efficient and environmentally acceptable manner. By turning solid waste into useful energy and materials, these projects are able to compete against other waste disposal options that are much less capital intensive. The financial viability of any WTE facility, therefore, is largely dependent upon its ability to sell energy to a long-term customer. This chapter explores some of the issues project developers should consider in investigating the energy and materials markets for any WTE project. It suggests that a WTE developer should consider the following critical factors in the marketing of steam—siting, price, operating schedule, availability of fuel, cost of connecting facilities, steam quality, and contracts. On top of plant size and fuel heating value, the design choices having the greatest impact on power production efficiency are: the pressure of the steam produced by boilers (standard at 40b/600 psi or high pressure at 65b/950 psi or higher), the type of condensing device (air cooled or water cooled), the heat source to pre-heat combustion air (if pre-heating is necessary), steam or energy recovered on flue gases, and the number of boilers and turbines.