Green groups seek North Dhaka WtE cancellation

Bangla Press Desk:   Leading environmental organisations have called on the government to immediately cancel the North Dhaka 42.5 MW Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Project, describing it as one of Bangladesh's costliest and most environmentally damaging power ventures.

The project, approved in 2020 under the now-defunct special act without competitive bidding, would impose severe long-term economic, environmental, public health and climate costs while generating only 42.5 MW of electricity at an estimated cost of Tk 57.45 billion (US$467 million), they warned at a press conference at a city hotel on Saturday.

The organisations are the Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), the Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED), and the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

Despite an agreement signed in 2021 between the Power Division, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), construction has yet to begin more than four years later, they said.

The project has already acquired 30 acres of land, including 10 acres from local landowners, many of whom opposed the acquisition and say they have yet to receive adequate compensation.

The organisations also said the livelihoods of around 2,000 waste pickers were at risk, with only 40 included in the project's rehabilitation plan.

At an 85 per cent plant factor, the facility is expected to generate only 316.5 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually.

Under the agreement, the government would be required to purchase electricity at US¢21.78 per kilowatt-hour, around 2.5 times the cost of utility-scale solar power.

If electricity generation falls below expectations, the effective tariff could rise to between Tk 47 and Tk 75 per unit, while the government would still be required to pay Tk 7.24 billion (US$58.87 million) annually in capacity charges.

CLEAN Chief Executive Hasan Mehedi argued that the same level of investment could finance 425 MW of solar power, generating nearly 688 million units of clean electricity without fuel costs or harmful emissions.

He also noted that the project's cost of Tk 1.35 billion per megawatt is nearly 2.5 times higher than that of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, raising questions over its financial viability.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB) are each providing US$100 million in loans, while CMEC is investing US$157 million.

However, the source of the remaining US$110 million has not been disclosed, fuelling concerns over transparency.

Under the project agreement, DNCC must supply 3,000 tonnes of municipal waste each day.

With the city currently generating around 2,750 tonnes of waste daily, DNCC could face financial penalties unless waste generation increases - a provision critics say discourages recycling and undermines circular economy practices.

At full capacity, the incinerator would release an estimated 73,576 tonnes of ash and particulate matter, 39.56 tonnes of toxic substances and 1.17 tonnes of harmful gases each year.

Experts warned that these emissions could increase the risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory illnesses.

The plant would also emit an estimated 411,392 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO?) annually, which the organisations claimed would be nearly double the emissions of a comparable coal-fired power plant.

BELA Policy Coordinator Barish Hasan Chowdhury urged the AIIB and the NDB to withdraw their financing, alleging violations of environmental and social safeguards, including inadequate public consultation.

Hasan Mehedi and Rayan Hasan of the NGO Forum on ADB also criticised what they described as concessions made to CMEC's technical limitations, saying they were contrary to the public interest.

The organisations demanded the immediate cancellation of the project, fair compensation for affected landowners, comprehensive rehabilitation for waste pickers, and a shift towards waste segregation, recycling, composting and renewable energy.

They concluded that the North Dhaka WtE project represents not only an expensive power plant but also a long-term threat to Bangladesh's economy, environment and public health.