Cogeneration in Vilnius: converting waste into electricity and useful heat

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This cogeneration waste-to-energy power plant project is very important for Lithuania as it will help to build a sustainable and integrated municipal waste management system. WTE is a missing detail that will complete the zero-waste system, where waste incineration will allow for the implementation of the waste hierarchy principle i.e. creating electricity and heat from waste which is left after the recycling process, rather than disposing of it on landfills.Arminas Mockevičius, Chancellor of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of LithuaniaThis EU-funded project is contributing to the country’s efforts to put in place a circular economy and to its strategic goal of increasing its energy independence by decreasing electricity and fossil fuel imports.The project is led by Vilnius kogeneracinė jėgainė, a subsidiary of state-owned energy company Lietuvos Energija. The power plant is expected to be completed by 2020. Over 400 people are being employed during the construction period. Once operational, the power plant will employ an average of 35 people to cogenerate heat and electricity from waste, with an efficiency coefficient of approximately 100 %.From waste to wattsIt is expected that the cogeneration power plant will use close to 160 000 tonnes of non-recyclable municipal waste that would otherwise end up on municipal landfill sites. Making use of this amount of waste will cover about 20 % of Vilnius’s annual heating requirements and supply electricity to 90 000 households.The resulting reduction in waste disposal and increase in energy independence will save the city’s inhabitants about EUR 10 million in waste disposal services each year.Once in operation, the facility will contribute to environmental sustainability by reducing landfill space needs by approximately 95 %.The plant will reduce national greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector by approximately 10 %, or about 130 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.Decreasing consumer pricesThe project set out to devise a more environmentally friendly way of managing municipal waste, based on circular economy and waste hierarchy principles. The plant will help boost the capital’s position as a source of locally produced renewable energy, and is expected to reduce heat production prices by about 20 %.Cogeneration is a highly efficient form of producing electricity and useful heat simultaneously. While in conventional power plants any produced heat often remains unused, the heat produced in a cogeneration plant is purposefully used to reach a higher level of energy efficiency. Converting waste into electricity and heat through recycling and incineration is a crucial part of modern waste management chains.VideosVilniaus kogeneracinė jėgainė | Lietuvos energijaVilniaus kogeneracinės jėgainės garo katilo būgno šventinimo ceremonijaVilniaus kogeneracinė jėgainė – elektros energijos šaltinis 230 tūkst. namų ūkiųTotal investment and EU fundingTotal investment for the project “Development of capacities to use municipal waste for recovery of energy in Vilnius city” is EUR 141 926 465, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 48 553 044 through the “EU Structural Funds Investments” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Environment and resource efficiency”.