The country’s first solid waste-to-hydrogen plant, worth over Rs 430 crore, will be built in Pune. TheGreenBillions Ltd (TGBL), a sustainability solutions provider, will build the plant under a 30-year agreement with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). By next year, it will treat 350 tonnes of solid waste per day.
“We intend to generate 10 tonnes of hydrogen per day from 350 tonnes of solid waste. We are constructing the plant in Pune’s Hadapsar Industrial Estate. This is India’s first attempt to extract hydrogen from waste “Prateek Kanakia, the chairman and founder of TGBL, stated.
The company will invest Rs 350 crore in the plant’s construction and an additional Rs 82 crore in the storage facility and logistics support. The PMC will pay TGBL Rs 347 per tonne as a tipping fee to treat the waste. The first 10 tonne reactor will be installed by November 2023, with the entire plant expected to be completed by November 2024.
Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) will provide project management consulting for the Pune plant, and Variate Pune Waste to Energy Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TGBL, will implement the project.
Benefits of waste-to-hydrogen plant
“The waste-derived fuel will be used to generate hydrogen via plasma gasification technology. The Bhabha Atomic Research Institute and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, provided us with technological assistance “Kanakia explained.
The project’s goal is to show the technological and financial viability of waste-to-hydrogen generation. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, recently stated that hydrogen is the fuel of the future and can be obtained from municipal waste.
According to Kanakia, TGBL is in talks with other state municipalities across the country about implementing and establishing similar plants in the future. “We are looking at partnering with cash rich municipal corporations anywhere in India. In fact, we want to join hands with Guwahati Municipal Corporation under a public-private-partnership model,” he added.
