The initiative taken up by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi when he was holding the Coal portfolio has now taken the form of the State’s first waste to energy project of converting solid waste into torrefied charcoal in Hubballi. And, the first trial run has been successfully conducted.

Addressing presspersons after a visit to the plant located on the outskirts of Hubballi at Gabbur on Friday, Mr. Joshi, who now holds New and Renewable Energy portfolio, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the first waste to energy project of converting dry waste into charcoal at Varanasi which is running successfully now.

“Hubballi’s project is the second such project in the country and the first in the State. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVNL) is implementing the project completely funded by National Thermal Power Corporation Limited,” he said.

Mr. Joshi said that NTPC is implementing the project at a total cost of ₹157 crore and it is expected to be fully commissioned by January 2027.

He said that he will thank the NTPC Board for giving approval to the second waste to energy project in Hubballi in 2020.

Although the project was sanctioned in 2020 after which NTPC tied up with Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, the subsequent handing over of possession of eight acres of corporation land with government clearances took time and finally, the construction began in 2024, Now, the trail run has been completed, Mr. Joshi said.

The Union Minister said that the project when commissioned in January 2027 will help in addressing the solid waste management related issues in the twin cities.

The plant will be run by NVVNL which will be spending over ₹11 crore annually for maintenance, while torrefied charcoal generated from the plant will be used as raw material along with coal in thermal power plants in the State.

The plant set up under the Green Charcoal project will be able to process 200 tonnes of dry waste every day and the conversion percentage from dry waste to charcoal will be 30% to 35%.

During the trial run at the plant for 72 hours, 541 tonnes of dry waste were processed to produce 211 tonnes of Green Charcoal.

Mr. Joshi said that in Hubballi-Dharwad, an average of 500 tonnes to 600 tonners of solid waste are generated every day of which around 60% is dry waste.

The plant is a solution to the problem of finding land for landfills as it will convert waste into charcoal. The plant will also generate employment for over 200 people in the region and as NVVNL will be responsible for maintenance, the municipal corporation will be spared of the expenses. Also, it will not have to look for more land for landfills, he said.

To a query, Mr. Joshi said that initially the plant will require power to function but subsequently gases generated during the waste burning process will help in running the unit, thus bringing down consumption of electricity. There will be a standby unit along with the main unit, he added.

Earlier, making a presentation on the waste to energy project, NVVNL officials said that torrefaction technology is being used to burn dry waste between 200°C and 320°C in an oxygen-depleted environment and the end result is Torrefied Charcoal, also known as environment friendly Green Charcoal.

During the segregation process, construction debris and inert materials (amounting to 20%) will be separated from the dry waste and the rest will be burnt to convert it into charcoal.

The charcoal will be then sent to the NTPC thermal power plant at Kudagi in Vijayapura district for using it with coal as raw material, they explained.

The Union Minister was accompanied by Mayor Jyoti Patil, Deputy Mayor Santosh Chauhan, Municipal Commissioner Rudresh Ghali, Assistant General Manager of NVVNL Binay Mallik and others during his visit.