Determination of electric power generation potential of Abuja’s municipal solid wastes

Abstract

Electric Power Generation Potential of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria has been studied in this work. A pilot study on waste generation activities in Galadimawa District of Abuja was carried out and the results were applied to the metropolis as a whole due to the observed similarities in the demographics of Galadimawa and other Districts in the metropolis. The city of Abuja presently has an annual MSW generation rate of 973,557 tons with a per capita generation of 0.77 kg/day. Waste fractions for the metropolis were also analysed and discounting materials that have recycling value, energy bearing fractions of organic and textile wastes were found to be 59.5%. This translates to 579266.42 tons per annum and with an aggregate higher heating value (HHV) of 15.84 MJ/kg for this fraction, this approximates to about 9.2 x 109 MJ/annum of realisable energy. Using a typical waste-to-energy (WTE) plant efficiency of 44% it is seen that Abuja’s MSW can support a power generating plant with a capacity of 128 MW. This potential far exceeds the energy being presently delivered to Abuja city from the national grid which is about 80 MW.