Technical and economic analysis

  Technical and economic analysis of energy generation from waste

incineration in Mexico

ABSTRACT
In this paper we evaluated the feasibility of energy generation by incineration of waste in Mexico. The population
of Mexico was split into six population-size classes, each one associated to a waste generation index. The total
amount of waste and the lower calorific values were used to estimate the power and energy resulting from each
size class. The economic feasibility was evaluated using the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Net Present Value
(NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR). For populations up to 3 million inhabitants the incineration of waste
resulted in 58.9 MW. The total energy generation resulted in 11,681.64 GWh contributing to 4.3% of the national
demand. The NPV and IRR showed negative values per lower sizes of population and the LCOE resulted in higher
values than other energy sources. A sensitivity analysis was conducted, addressing specific elements of the
analysis to show how the project can become economically feasible when adjusting investment, O&M and sales
tariff. This research provides evidence on how the Waste-To-Energy (WTE) incineration industry is feasible in
Mexico and provides significant benefits, not only by strengthening the renewable energy sector but also by
.significantly improving the waste management system

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