Roundup: Waste-to-energy project, grid coordinator director appointments

Waste-to-energy

A solid urban waste processing project is seeking the environmental green light in Uruguay.

Filed by private sector player Morseloy Corporation, the Canelones department initiative would receive around 500t/d of chiefly residential waste generated in the jurisdiction that is currently sent to a landfill.

Around 80% of the waste would be reused, with output including biomethane as well as electricity, which would be produced at a cogeneration plant using processed trash.

The remainder of waste that cannot be reused would be deposited in a landfill at the project site, according to a document filed with Uruguay’s environment ministry.

Biomethane would be used in boilers and furnaces, injected into a pipeline or compressed and bottled.  

The project is aligned with a 2019 waste management law geared to environmental protection and sustainable development and aligned with the country’s 2022-32 national waste management plan, the document states.

Around 42% of waste dumped in the jurisdiction is organic.

A Canelones waste management project was previously awarded but hit environmental hurdles and was put on hold following a call for alternative projects, according to information in the BNamericas project database.

“The [Morseloy] proposal features characteristics that set it apart from most of the alternatives analyzed so far, both at the departmental and national levels,” the document states. “This aligns with the latest recommendations from experts, including those from multilateral organizations.”

Click here to read the project document.

Appointments  

Two local electric power specialists were appointed to the advisory board of Chile’s grid coordinator CEN.

In a statement, national energy commission CNE said Carlos Finat and Bernardita Espinoza will join as board directors and remain in post until October 2029.

Among other senior industry roles over a 40-year span, Finat was executive director of local renewables and storage association Acera and of former grid coordinator CDEC-SING.

During a career spanning more than 23 years, Espinoza has held senior level industry roles, including CEO of transmission company Eletrans.