Officials at the Tynes Bay Incinerator are looking into technologies to almost double the plant?s capacity to incinerate trash ? including the possibility of a third stream.

Currently the plant runs on two streams, with each stream capable of incinerating six tonnes of trash per hour or 288 tonnes per day. Only one stream is used at a time, with the other as back up.

Permanent Secretary of Special Operations Russell Wade said plant operators want to increase that burning capacity. ?The number depends on what we can put in, but we?re looking to increase it by 200-250 tonnes per day,? he said.

The amount of trash created by Bermudians increases by three to three and a half percent per year, or roughly 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes. In 1994, when the plant opened, the total for the year was 37,000-40,000 tonnes, though Mr. Wade did point out the Marsh Folly site was still in use at the time, meaning the total amount of trash that year was actually higher than the 40,000 tonnes incinerated at Tynes Bay.

Nevertheless, the 2002 total for Tynes Bay was 68,000 tonnes ? almost double what the plant incinerated less than a decade ago.

The final numbers for 2003 are still being calculated, however plant chemist Richard Wadden said he expected the increase over last year to be anywhere from five to seven percent, instead of the usual three ? possibly up to 75,000 tonnes. This would be at least partially due to Hurricane Fabian.

?We are very much concerned with the amount of refuse we are receiving,? said Mr. Wade.

?Within the given space we have to maximise burning as much as possible,? agreed operations manager Vincent Shih. ?If we can fit another 200-250 tonnes, that means we won?t need another expansion for many, many years to come.?

As things stand now, the life expectancy of the two streams already at the plant is 20 years. On May 16 the plant will have its ten-year anniversary, and Government will have to begin looking at upgrading those streams also.

?A third stream would be the first in many steps we will be taking to upgrade,? said Mr. Shih. Putting in a third stream does not mean ignoring the other two, he added, but it will buy Government some time to deal with the increase in trash.

Upgrading the other two will hopefully increase the plant capacity from 288 tonnes per day to 600 tonnes per day.

They were unable to put a cost to any upgrade as they are uncertain yet which route they will take ? a new stream with the same technology as the old, or different technology. Once they decide on the technology they will have to take their plans to Cabinet for approval.

?It would be beneficial to have the same technology because the engineers won?t have to go through any additional training,? said Mr. Wade.

Part of the new third stream would be increased production of electricity. Currently some of the steam from the boilers is converted to electricity via a turbine, electricity which is then used to power plant. Any leftover is sold to the Belco grid, with profits going back to the Government Consolidated Fund.

?We?re quite proud of the fact that we are fully self-sustaining,? said Mr. Shih. ?We don?t put much burden on the taxpayer.? The method is known as a ?waste to energy? scheme, and is starting to be used globally, he said. ?If we have to burn trash, we might as well use the heat for something productive.?

A third stream would require a larger turbine, however. The current turbine produces 3.5 megawatts of electricity, whereas a third stream would allow for eight to ten megawatts.

There are problems facing the idea of a third stream, namely how to construct it in the current Tynes Bay location.

When the plant was originally built, a hole was sunk into the ground to accommodate the 12-storey building, and the boilers were built first. The building itself was built around them.

Now the stream will have to be built inside the building, which is not set out in a field, but in a hole in the ground. ?We can?t bring in a bunch of cranes, we?ll have one doing the bulk of it,? said Mr. Wade.

?It?s going to be challenging, there?s no question about that,? said Mr. Shih.

?But we?re very cautious,? he added. ?We are doing our due diligence to ensure the cost will be at a level Bermuda can sustain.?