The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamas (TTD) will establish a compressed biogas (CBG) plant in Tirumala in collaboration with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL).
The plant will be placed on one acre of land and will cost ₹12 crore, which will be split equally between TTD and IOCL.
The TTD, as part of its ‘Swachh Tirumala’ programme, has already set up a municipal wet waste treatment plant in the town, employing windrow technology with the assistance of an agency to produce compost/manure, thereby minimising an adverse impact on the environment.
The TTD decided to set up the biogas plant as an alternative for the disposal of wet waste.
The biogas produced from wet waste can be used in the production of electricity and heat, while the residual, stabilised sludge can be used as a soil conditioner and fertiliser.
TTD deliberated with IOCL authorities who after a detailed technical study of the proposal expressed their willingness for the setting up of the plant on a 50/50 basis.
After an analysis, it was found that the TTD required 3.335 MT of LPG a day. Setting up a solar stream cooking system under NREDCAP would bring down consumption by 1.10 MT a day, officials said.
Meanwhile, the proposed plant is estimated to generate around 1.625 MT of CBG and drastically reduce dependency on LPG, besides fetching an annual net saving of around ₹12 crore excluding operational and maintenance costs.
A team of TTD officials who assessed the feasibility of a similar plant set up by ICOL at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu in their report suggested that by making a few modifications to the existing burners and stoves, the gas so produced can be transported in cylinders rather than through conventional pipelines.
Taking into account the volume of savings the proposed plant would achieve, the TTD recently gave its consent to the IOCL to conduct the works.
TTD plans compressed biogas plant at Tirumala
