First biogas-powered EV charger station in India was unveiled in Mumbai, Maharashtra. This station is anticipated to generate 220 units of energy from food waste collected in the surrounding region, primarily from big generators such as hotels and offices. This energy facility will power street lights as well as charge electric vehicles. Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra’s Environment Minister, dedicated it.
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Electric car sales have been slowly increasing over the last several years, and as fuel prices continue to increase, EVs are making an increasingly stronger argument for themselves. However, one constant critique is that, while electric cars are 100 percent green — no emissions – the electricity used to charge them is not. However, India’s first biogas-powered EV charger hopes to change that.
The Biogas Energy Generation Plant, which is scheduled to open in 2021, will create electricity from 1.5 lakh kilos of food waste. In addition, to promote electric vehicles, BMC intends to install organic waste-powered EV charging stations in each of its 24 administrative wards.
Important points:
- The country’s first organic waste-powered EV charging station is located on Keshavrao Khadye road in Mumbai, near Haji Ali.
- Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and AeroCare Clean Energy have collaborated on the project.
- This EV Charging Plant is linked to the Minatai Thackeray Park Waste-Energy Unit.
- We drove the 2022 MG ZS EV for a test drive to see how it works, but more on that later.
- AeroCare Clean Energy established the facility in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi area.
- Food waste is used to generate methane, which is subsequently turned to power.
- The MG ZS EV received a 14 percent charge in 14 minutes.
The GO EC was inaugurated on May 9 in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi neighborhood. AeroCare Clean Energy, in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), erected the bio-gas powered EV charger thanks to a grant from the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (BIRAC). The device transforms waste food from hotels and other facilities into methane, which is then used to generate electricity.
What exactly does it entail?
“We already had a decentralized waste management system, with fertiliser as a byproduct,” says Ankit Zaveri, CEO of AeroCare. A typical day at the facility involves processing two tons of garbage, converting approximately 180-200m3 (metre cubic) of methane into electricity.
Mustafa Shaikh, the plant’s manager, adds, “GO EC is also available in Kerala, and we first planned to supply the electricity produced to power street lights.” Later, we collaborated with the Kerala unit to charge electric vehicles.”
Shaikh goes on to say that organic waste can be processed and used in three ways: bio CNG, bio electricity, and bio cooking.
How is power generated?
The food waste, before it is shipped to the hydrolyzer, is first crushed and shredded. It is then passed through a mixing tank and into the digester tank, where it is cleaned and stored in a balloon.”A generator then transforms the gas to electricity,” Shaikh says. He noted that the digester tank can hold roughly 1 lakh litres of slurry and is kept at 40 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Zaveri notes that the chargers will be upgraded in the future as the charging speeds of the automobiles rise.
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The charging procedure and the future intentions of GO EC
According to Zaveri, in order to charge their vehicle, they must first download the GO EC app, top up their wallet, and then pay. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will also be deployed at a later date, he adds. RFID is the same technology that is used to pay tolls on highways with FASTags.
Our initial thoughts of the GO EC app were that it was not as smooth as the Tata Power app. We charged the ZS EV for 14 minutes, which increased the capacity of our battery by 14 percent to 6.95kWh. The price for this was Rs 118.