Power Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Ghana

Abstract

The use of municipal solid waste to generate electricity is becoming a widely accepted concept. Municipal solid wastes provide a clean source of fuel which can be used for power and steam generation. As Ghana sets out to increase its renewable energy component of the electricity generation mix by 10% by 2020, the conversion of municipal solid waste to electricity offers the country a fair opportunity to achieve this target. This paper assesses the potential of municipal solid waste in Ghana for power generation using the mechanical biological treatment process. The mechanical biological treatment presents Ghana with an added advantage of waste sorting, which is an uncommon practice in Ghana. This does not only make it easier to capture the organic component for biogas generation, but also allows the recyclable components of the residual waste to be re-used. The paper finds that the 12.3 million kg of municipal solid waste generated in Ghana daily can produce about 696,140.191MWh every year, representing 3.5% of Ghana’s total electricity demand in 2016 and 1.9% of total installed capacity. Furthermore, for every 200MW of power produced, Ghana can save up to US$5,217,622.64 every month on fuel costs if the country generates power from biogas from municipal solid waste using the mechanical biological treatment process.