NTPC commissions green coal plant in Varanasi

20 Mar 2023 CW Team

The state-owned power company NTPC has launched the world's first commercial green coal project in Varanasi, which will produce torrefied charcoal from municipal waste. According to a company statement, NTPC planned to produce green coal (torrefied charcoal) from municipal waste nearly three years ago.

The project was awarded on an EPC (engineering procurement construction) basis to Macawber Beekay by NTPC's arm NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVNL), and the first reactor module of 200 tonnes per day (TPD) capacity green coal plant was recently installed and commissioned for NTPC's Harit Koyla (Green Coal) Pariyojna plant at Ramana in Varanasi, it stated.

After all three modules are installed, the total waste handling capacity of this plant will be 600 TPD.

The plant occupies 20 acres of land. Torrefied charcoal (green coal), which is similar to natural coal, can be successfully blended with fuel to generate electricity in thermal power plants.

The process is environmentally friendly because no waste is burned; instead, it is processed inside the reactor using Macawber Beekay's specialised conversion technology. NTPC obtained 70 tonnes of green coal from the unit's 200 tonnes of waste. It was stated that after the successful experiment, more units of green coal from waste would be established.

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