Electric power generation from municipal solid waste: A techno-economical assessment under different scenarios in Iran

Due to the increasing rate of municipal waste generation, Waste-to-Energy technologies for waste management have been noticed in the last two decades. The objective of the present study was to investigate and review the sensitivity analysis of different scenarios for choosing an effective and efficient technology using a gasification or incineration system from municipal solid waste in Iran. The challenge was to find the best suitable scenario according to economic aspects. For this purpose, factors of the costs of waste disposal (gate fee) and electricity power purchase agreement in the economic recovery plan for the two technologies (waste gasification and incineration) were evaluated. The investigation data analysis showed significant difference between gasification and incineration technologies. Due to the higher efficiency of gasification technology compared to incineration technology, scenarios of energy recovery from waste by gasification technology, taking into account the effect of gate fee or electricity power purchase agreement (scenario 5 and 6) were the best scenario among the evaluated scenarios. The calculation indicates that the most appropriate of payback periods for gasification technology 4.17 and 4.06 years in the gate fee of US$ 0.126 and electricity power purchase agreement of US$ 0.276, respectively. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.