Turkey's Bursa municipality plans to produce 2.5 megawatts of electricity annually out of waste mud from a water treatment plant, City Mayor Recep Altepe said on Monday.
Altepe's announcement came during his visit to the construction of the mud drying and burning facility in the Mustafakemalpasa industrial district of Bursa, near Turkey's fourth biggest city.
The installation of an electricity production plant from the mud drying and burning facility will take one and a half years at a cost of 68 million Turkish liras ($23.2 million).
Although the initiative to utilize the waste mud is a difficult process, it offers an environmentally-friendly method of both disposing and utilizing the waste for electricity generation.
Once launched, a 12 month trial period will be undertaken to test the performance and reliability of the facility, Altepe said.
He added that the plant will make annual savings of 6.5 million Turkish lira ($2.3 million) from Turkey's energy bill.
Reporting by Elif Ozlem Celikler
Writing By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
muhsin.tiryakioglu@aa.com.tr