Gurugram to convert solid waste to green coal

Gurugram, June 28

To mitigate the problem of the ever-increasing quantity of municipal solid waste and to gainfully utilise it for generating renewable energy, a meeting on “Waste to Energy” was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar at Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi, on Friday.

During the meeting, the initiative taken by the NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVNL) for producing green coal from municipal solid waste was deliberated upon in detail.

Khattar directed the MCG to move ahead and associate with the NVVNL for setting up a green coal plant, preferably at Bandhwari or at alternative sites in the vicinity of Gurugram and Manesar. The plant would be capable of consuming about 1,200 tonnes of MSW per day. A detailed presentation on green coal was given by Renu Narang, CEO of NVVNL. It was explained that green coal, also known as bio-coal, is a sustainable alternative to conventional coal as it can be blended with normal coal in thermal power plants for producing electricity. The NVVNL recently set up a commercial plant in Varanasi to produce green coal from MSW. This is the first attempt in India to produce green coal from MSW. The NVVNL is also in various stages of setting up green coal plants in Haldwani, Vadodara, Noida, Gorakhpur and Bhopal, among other locations. The minister took a keen interest in the deliberations and directed that Haryana should collaborate with the NVVNL.

Municipal Corporation, Gurugram, Commissioner Dr Narhari Singh Bangar, informed the Union Minister that MCG has already taken the initiative in this regard.