Chandigarh: Due to the strenuous efforts of Union Power and Housing & Urban Affairs Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, Haryana will soon get waste-to-charcoal plants, also known as green coal plants. An MoU for this plant will be signed between NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVNL) and the Haryana Government. After setting up the plants in Gurugram-Manesar and Faridabad, this initiative will be expanded to other cities in Haryana. NVVNL officers will soon visit a few sites for establishing green coal plants.
To implement these plants, a meeting was held on Friday evening at Shram Shakti Bhawan in New Delhi, chaired by Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal. The minister is highly committed to reducing the problem of the increasing quantity of municipal solid waste and using it beneficially for renewable energy production. During the meeting on waste-to-energy, detailed discussions were held on NVVNL's initiative to produce green coal from solid waste.
It is noteworthy that green coal, also known as bio-coal, is a sustainable alternative to traditional waste, as it can be blended with regular coal for electricity generation in thermal power plants. NVVNL recently established a plant in Varanasi to produce green coal from solid waste. Once fully operational, this plant will consume 600 tons of waste and produce 200 tonnes of green coal, leaving very little residue. NVVNL is also working in various stages to set up green coal plants in Haldwani, Vadodara, Noida, Gorakhpur, and Bhopal.
During the meeting Union Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal directed that green coal projects should be established in various districts of Haryana. Commissioner of MCG, Dr. Narhari Singh Bangar mentioned that the MCG has already initiated this process and shown some sites in Gurugram with the NVVNL officials.
The Union Minister instructed that the MC, in collaboration with NVVNL, should set up a green coal plant at Bandhwari or alternative sites around Gurugram and Manesar. He stated that this plant should be capable of consuming around 1200 tons of solid waste daily. Similarly, Faridabad MC should start the process with NVVNL to set up a plant with a capacity of 1000 tonnes per day on the available land in village Mothuka. Establishing waste-to-green coal plants in Gurugram-Manesar and Faridabad will not only provide a permanent solution to the waste problem but also increase energy production.