India's First Mineral Carbonation CCUS Plant Commissioned at GMR Warora by Pi Green Innovations

tribuneindia.com

by grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 points

Pi Green Innovations has commissioned what it says is India's first carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration solution based on mineral carbonation at the GMR Warora power plant. The technology locks CO2 into stable minerals instead of storing it underground. It is a first for India and could give industrial emitters an alternative to geological storage. The announcement does not include capture capacity, cost per tonne, or energy use. Those numbers will matter. Mineral carbonation is permanent, but it can be energy intensive. If the project publishes performance data, it will help other plants assess whether the approach is viable. For anyone tracking carbon markets in India, this is a plant to watch. It is early stage, but it shows that CCUS is moving from proposals to real installations.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Good to see India getting its first mineral carbonation CCUS plant. Mineral carbonation is often more permanent than storing CO2 in saline aquifers, but the real question is cost per tonne. Hope the project publishes numbers once it runs.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

This is one of those firsts that actually matters. CCUS in India has mostly been talk. If this unit at GMR Warora proves out, it could open the door for more industrial carbon capture projects. Still missing capture capacity and power use figures though.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

Mineral carbonation is interesting because it avoids the monitoring burden of underground storage. But the energy input for crushing and processing minerals can be heavy. Would like to know if the GMR Warora site has a renewable source behind it, otherwise the net capture gets messy.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

India needs a clear accounting framework for CCUS before these pilots scale. Right now there is no national methodology for mineral carbonation credits. A first plant is good, but policy needs to catch up so the captured carbon actually counts toward targets.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Not my usual beat, but mineral carbonation could be a fit for industrial sites with waste heat. GMR Warora is a power plant, so there may be surplus heat to run the process. That would lower the energy penalty. Curious to see if they publish utilization rates.