Decentralized waste-to-energy project in Naga City

Integrated resource management using Nexus approach

Regional Workshop on Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities 3-4 December 2013 | Bangkok, Thailand

Outline • The setting • Project planning (June 2013) • Expert rapid field appraisal (Sept 2013) • Challenges and opportunities

Context □ Not centrally located

□ 377 kms south of Manila (national capital), 380 kms north of Cebu (2nd biggest urban center)

□ The core of Metro Naga □ A fast-growing area comprised of 15

municipalities and Naga City belonging to Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC)

□ A small city □ 170,000+ population (2010 est.).

48.9% Male; 51.1% Female. □ Daytime population of around 300-

400,000

Potential Nexus projects • Top priority

– Decentralized waste-to-energy project in Del Rosario, Naga City

• Others – Peri-urban farming, energy production

linked to MNWD septage plant – Applying integrated resource management

(Nexus) principles in the 2016-30 Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Naga City

Project background: Nexus-inspired CLUP

• Executive Order No. 2013-006 issued on Feb 20, 2013 initiated process of formulating successor land use plan for Naga

• Planning team has been organized • Visioning workshop conducted last May

24, 2013 • Should be completed by end of 2014

Updating the CLUP

Step 2

Identifying Stake-

holders

Step 3

Setting the Vision

Step 4

Analyzing the

Situation

Step 5

Setting the Goals &

Objectives

Step 6

Establishing the Desired Devt Thrust and Spatial Strategies

Step 11

Implemen-ting

the CLUP

Step 10

Reviewing Adopting & Approving the CLUP and ZO

Step 9

Conducting the Public Hearing on the Draft

CLUP and ZO

Step 8

Drafting the Zoning

Ordinance (ZO)

Step 7

Preparing the Land Use Plan

Step 1

Getting Organized

Step 12

Monitoring, Reviewing & Evaluating the CLUP

We are here

Project background: Peri-urban farming + biogas

• Peri-urban farming linked to sludge treatment plant – Being established by

the Metro Naga Water District (Naga City + 4 other adjacent towns)

– Capacity of 56 cum per day

– Explore possibility of generating energy, fertilizer from sludge

Project goal • Promote integrated resource management

(“Nexus”) practices in Naga City • Implement pilot decentralized waste-to-

energy project/s in Naga City

Rationale • Primary sanitary facilities used in Naga City are

septic tanks or sanitary pits – Treatment is achieved by holding waste water in the

tank long enough for solids and liquids to separate – There is no major wastewater treatment plant, except

two small plants serving two newer shopping malls within the city centre

– Effluent from septic tanks, other polluted water either seeps into the ground or finds its way by the drainage system into the river

• Construction of treatment plant for extracted sludge from the septic tanks and sanitary pits is ongoing in upper Naga

Rationale • 2012 CDIA pre-feasibility study

for revitalizing Naga River proposes – rehabilitation of septic tanks for

around 80% of households and – construction of wetlands that will

process effluents within and around the city center

• Project cost is PhP1.4 billion (US$31.4 million) over the next 20 years

• Communities outside the city center will not benefit from proposed sewerage system, hence need for decentralized solutions

Project site

Project description • Establishment of a waste-to-

energy facility in the City Government housing project in Del Rosario, Naga City

• Covers area of 1.5 hectares • Sources of waste:

– Human (around 2,600 persons) • 120 households from the housing

project • 105 inmates from the Naga City

District Jail • 2,000 students from the proposed

Del Rosario National High School – Animal: 200 hogs, 50 large

cattle from the Naga City Abattoir

National Highway

Housing Project

(Phase 1)

Housing Project

(Phase 2)

High School

Abattoir

District Jail

Outputs and indicators • Human solid waste •Animal solid waste

• Slaughterhouse washings • Household washings

Biogas digester

Separation chamber

Methane Compost fertilizer

Household cooking

Urban garden

SLUDGE

Filtering process

EFFLUENT

Agitation

Treatment

73 cu m/day

3.4 tons/day

Nexus application • Water-Energy-Food integrated resource

management – Sludge conversion to energy (household

cooking, 10% of household expenditures) – Sludge conversion to fertilizer (compost) for

use in urban agriculture (food account for 14% of household expenditures

– Effluent treatment for water reuse (urban community garden)

• Template for future housing project development

Financing • Realignment of sanitation component for

housing units to the project to partly cover the project (HDMF funding)

• Cost recovery from piped-in gas service for cooking

• Revenues from sale of organic fertilizer • Revenues from sale of excess gas, if

possible

Expert RFA Findings MNWD Septage + Biogas

• Integration of biogas to MNWS septage facility is feasible

• Local feedstock: septage, domestic biowaste, pig manure, sugar molasses, rice straw

• Can generate around P12 million in revenues annually

Expert RFA Findings: Del Rosario Housing

• Anaerobic treatment plant can be established beside district jail – Allows gravity-led transport of

wastewater – Should expand coverage to

include Camella Homes, other real estate

• Improve housing design based on Nexus project recommendations

• Tighter project management, in partnership with local state college (BISCAST)

Decentralized waste-to-energy project can produce biogas

– For cooking and warm water in the district jail

– Heating/cooling in the city slaughterhouse

Expert RFA Findings: Metropolitan solution

• Vacuum sewer system instead of constructed wetland solution for sewerage

Challenges, Opportunities • Fragmented

institutional arrangement – Water and sewerage rests

with an external independent agency

• Building political support for innovative solutions – Will raise cost of basic

services, and will be politically sensitive

– But: Critical to sustainable urban development

Two-pronged option • Wait it out: install a more

receptive MNWD board by 2016

• City government to explore Nexus-inspired sanitation service provision – Create SPV-type local

government owned sewerage company

– Open to private equity investors, incl Overseas Filipinos

– Requires hard numbers indicating financial viability