Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

NTPC Joins Hands with Delhi Jal Board to Convert Waste Into Energy

The green technology solution is an innovative way to convert sewage sludge into energy through environment-friendly means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
April 22, 2022
NTPC
Shovel excavator loading the sewage sludge. Representational Image. Photo Credit- Flickr

In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, India’s largest integrated power company, NTPC, has partnered with Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to use the sludge produced at DJB’s sewage treatment plant (STP).

The torrefied waste sludge was fired from NTPC’s unit 4 Boiler at Dadri. This green technology solution is an innovative way to convert sewage sludge into energy through environmentally friendly means to reduce CO2 emissions.

In the Delhi NCR alone, sewage treatment plants produce up to 800 metric tons of sludge per day. Disposal of this sludge is a great challenge as it contributes to environmental pollution. It is also a great threat to the health of the people who live in the area. The burning of sludge in boilers will reduce net CO2 emissions and pollution of water and soil and pave the way for the use of waste and its conversion into energy in an environmentally friendly way.

When it comes to emissions, Dadri coal units are amongst the cleanest not only in NTPC but in the whole country. Under the JV, NTPC has 9 coal-fired projects, 4 gas-fired projects, 8 hydroelectric projects and 5 renewable energy projects.

The company has a total installed capacity of 68,881.68 MW with 23 coal-fired projects, 7 gas-fired, 1 hydroelectric and 19 renewable energy.

NTPC Dadri thermal plant has developed the facility for co-firing rice stubble agro-waste pellets. More than 8000 Metric Tonnes of agro pellets have been fired in the last two years and this has avoided stubble/ Parali burning in almost 4000 acres of farmland. The use of agro-waste pellets for power generation at Dadri station is helping farmers financially and also reducing the carbon footprint of power generation.