Seoul City Recovers Energy Worth Approximately 160 Billion KRW Last Year Through Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facilities

Annual Energy Recovery of 1.17 Million Gcal from 4 Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] It was confirmed on the 15th that the energy recovered from municipal waste through four metropolitan resource recovery facilities in Seoul reached 1.17 million Gcal last year.

The volume-based waste discarded by Seoul citizens has a calorific value of about 3,000 kcal/kg, and Seoul recovers this as thermal energy for district heating and electrical energy through steam turbine power generation.

Seoul announced that it recovered a total of 1.17 million Gcal of energy from the four metropolitan resource recovery facilities, including 1.16 million Gcal as thermal energy for district heating and 8,900 Gcal as electricity through power generation. The 1.17 million Gcal corresponds to the heating energy that 170,000 households can use for one year.

The 1.17 million Gcal recovered from the metropolitan resource recovery facilities is equivalent to the energy obtained by burning 120,000 tons of natural gas (LNG) at a combined heat and power plant. Considering that Korea relies entirely on imports for natural gas, this represents an import substitution effect of about 160 billion KRW.

In particular, amid soaring raw material and energy prices due to the Ukraine-Russia war, it is playing a crucial role in slowing the rise in heating costs by stably supplying affordable energy through district heating operators.

When the new metropolitan resource recovery facility (with a capacity of 1,000 tons/day) currently being promoted by Seoul is operational, it is expected to recover an additional 600,000 Gcal of energy from the new facility alone, resulting in an additional import substitution effect of over 82 billion KRW.

Kim Gwongi, head of the Seoul Resource Recovery Facility Promotion Team, said, “Incinerating 3 tons of municipal waste can replace the fossil fuel imports consumed for heating by one household for a year.” He added, “Resource recovery facilities not only environmentally and stably process the municipal waste generated in our city but are also economically very valuable facilities in this era of energy crisis, so citizens’ cooperation in expanding resource recovery facilities is urgently needed.”