NTPC commissions green coal plant in Varanasi

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the state-owned power giant, has commissioned first-of-its-kind commercial green coal project in Varanasi, which will make torrefied charcoal from municipal waste.

NTPC had planned to make green coal (torrefied charcoal) from municipal waste nearly three years ago, a company statement said.

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

The total capacity of this plant after installation of all three modules shall be 600 TPD of waste handling capacity. The plant is built on 20 acres of land. Torrefied charcoal (green coal) which is similar to natural coal can be successfully blended with fuel in thermal power plants to produce electricity.

What is green coal? 

Green coal, also known as bio-coal is an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels and is made from a combination of waste materials, such as agricultural residue and municipal solid waste (MSW). One of the key benefits of green coal is that it reduces the amount of CO2 emissions produced.

Torrefied charcoal (green coal) which is similar to natural coal can be successfully blended with fuel in thermal power plants to produce electricity. The process is environment-friendly as there is no burning of waste, it is rather processed inside the reactor using Macawber Beekay's specialised conversion technology.