India's waste-to-energy (WtE) sector is growing rapidly as municipal solid waste (MSW) management becomes a priority under the Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and increasing urban density. Installed WtE capacity has grown from negligible levels in 2015 to approximately 2,000 MW in 2024, with substantial further expansion projected. Major operators include Essel, Ramky, IL&FS, and several state government-backed facilities in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and other large cities.
WtE's CO₂ is unique: municipal solid waste typically consists of 50–60% biogenic material (paper, food, garden waste, textiles from natural fibres). The CO₂ from combusting this biogenic fraction is classified as "biogenic CO₂" in carbon accounting frameworks — not additional fossil CO₂ to the atmosphere, because the carbon was recently absorbed from the atmosphere by the plants that made the material. When this biogenic CO₂ is captured and stored permanently, the result is a negative emission: atmospheric CO₂ has been permanently removed. This makes WtE + CCS a BECCS application with potentially the highest carbon credit value in India's portfolio.
India's current WtE capacity — growing rapidly under Smart Cities Mission
Biogenic fraction of typical MSW — generating negative emission credits when captured with CCS
Net atmospheric CO₂ per tonne of biogenic CO₂ captured and stored — true carbon removal
Per-tonne premium for negative emission credits in voluntary carbon markets
Post-combustion amine capture on WtE flue gas is technically straightforward — WtE flue gas is typically 10–14% CO₂ after air pollution control, similar to coal power flue gas. The challenge is scale: individual WtE plants are typically 50–200 MW — small relative to coal power stations — making dedicated CCS infrastructure uneconomic for individual plants. The economic model for WtE CCUS therefore depends on cluster infrastructure: multiple WtE plants in a metropolitan area sharing a CO₂ collection pipeline and connecting to shared storage.
Stockholm Exergi's BECCS project in Sweden — the world's first large-scale WtE + CCS project — has demonstrated this pathway commercially, capturing CO₂ from biomass-fired combined heat and power and storing it offshore in the North Sea. NCM draws on this reference project for India's WtE CCUS design, while adapting for India's different MSW composition, WtE technology base, and storage options.
India's largest metropolitan WtE clusters — Delhi NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and Pune — are NCM's priority BECCS project locations. Delhi NCR has the highest concentration of operational WtE capacity (Okhla, Ghazipur, Narela-Bawana, Tehkhand), creating the aggregation potential for a shared CO₂ collection pipeline that connects multiple plants to CO₂ compression and transport infrastructure. The challenge in Delhi is storage proximity — Gondwana basin saline aquifer storage is 400–600 km distant, making storage economics challenging. Atmospheric CO₂ mineralisation in concrete (CO₂ to building materials) may be the more economic near-term storage pathway for Delhi WtE CCUS.
Mumbai's growing WtE fleet — with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's planned additions — is better positioned for CCUS economics, with potential access to Mumbai High offshore CO₂ storage and existing ONGC offshore infrastructure that could be adapted for CO₂ transport. NCM is developing a preliminary BECCS feasibility assessment for Mumbai's integrated WtE + offshore storage concept.
NCM's WtE CCUS advisory focuses primarily on the cluster aggregation design and carbon credit certification — the two elements that determine whether WtE BECCS is commercially viable. The cluster aggregation assessment maps the geographic distribution of WtE plants in target cities, identifies optimal pipeline routing, and models the CO₂ collection cost as a function of cluster size. The carbon credit certification design develops the waste sampling methodology, biogenic fraction measurement protocol, and carbon registry documentation needed to maximise the negative emission credit value.
The carbon credit premium for verified negative emissions from WtE BECCS is the most important economic variable in project viability. NCM's voluntary carbon market advisory ensures that WtE CCUS projects are designed and documented from the outset to meet the most stringent verification standards (Verra VCS + CCB, Gold Standard), maximising the achievable credit price.
Whether you are a government body seeking policy advice, an industrial company facing CBAM exposure, or an investor seeking CCUS project opportunities — our team is ready to engage.