Green light for Polish technologies in India
With great pleasure and satisfaction, we would like to share a short report from our working visit to India with our readers. We are one of the 17 companies – laureates of the 2nd edition of the GreenEvo competition for the best Polish innovative technologies utilizing green energy. The hybrid sludge dryer technology we offer is a selected technology promoted by the Ministry of the Environment abroad. This technology is particularly interesting because it enables solving the problem of municipal sewage sludge management without the need for traditional energy carriers.
For the competition laureates, this is an excellent opportunity to promote both their own technologies and our country. The first of the foreign economic missions planned for this year, opening a series of trips aimed at promoting Polish pro-environmental technologies on international markets, was to India, a country where renewable energy has not been significant until now. The delegation included the following companies: ATON-HT S.A., CTE Carbotech Engineering Sp. z o.o., ECOTECH Polska Sp. z o.o., EKOTOP Roman Sobczyk, MULTICHEM EKO, PP-EKO Sp. z o.o., and SUNEX Sp. z o.o., as well as representatives of the GreenEvo project.
According to data from 2006, the share of Indian energy utilizing renewable sources was only 3.5% of the potential. Such a small percentage clearly highlights the poor utilization of existing sources by investors and the government. The situation becomes even more alarming when looking at India's energy consumption and production charts. The EIA (Energy Information Administration) estimates that energy consumption will increase by about 4% annually until 2025, which definitely exceeds India's current production capabilities. This results mainly from the low utilization of available renewable sources and meeting energy needs through costly purchases on the international market. The dominant source of energy, with about 60% of the share, is coal. It is a terrifying fact that, in 2006, nearly 50% of the population lacked access to electricity. An advanced development project prepared by the NSM (National Solar Mission) assumes a sevenfold increase in thermal installations by 2022. It is certain that India will not be able to cope with this task alone. Last year, a ministerial-business mission from Poland stayed in India promoting environmentally friendly technologies. The stay of Polish businessmen ready to cooperate with India in the field of "green technologies" was also part of the GreenEvo project implemented by the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Poland.
We arrived in New Delhi at 2 a.m. The time difference with Warsaw is nearly 4 hours (3.5 or 4.5, depending on DST). The first impression after leaving the air-conditioned airport building was a gust of hot, moisture-saturated air prevailing here during the rainy season. Reportedly, the monsoon is not as strong this year and is quite bearable.
The welcome at a luxurious, old-English style hotel surprised us slightly. The sympathetic, nice, and smiling staff welcomed us in a truly royal style, putting flower garlands around our necks and marking us for good luck with a "tilaka" – a red dot on the forehead. The very next day of our stay, we participated in a meeting at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in New Delhi with the Ambassador of Poland to India, Prof. Piotr Kłodkowski, and employees of the Economic Department and the Trade and Investment Promotion Section.
During the meeting at the Embassy, Ms. Agnieszka Kozłowska-Korbicz presented the GreenEvo project, after which each of the companies present made their own presentations on the offered green technologies. The next point of the meeting was a presentation by Dr. Sebastian Domżalski from the Economic Department of the Trade and Investment Promotion Section, introducing the specifics of the Indian market and its business potential. We had the opportunity to get answers to our questions about operating in the Indian market, as well as the cultural and mental differences prevalent in India.
This meeting was also preparation for participation in the Business Forum "Green technologies from Poland", organized, among others, thanks to the support of the Polish Embassy staff as part of the largest Renewable Energy Fair in India, India Expo Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
These fairs play a fundamental role in shaping the strategy for renewable energy development in India and serve as an excellent medium for technology transfer in the renewable energy industry. According to organizers, 527 exhibitors from 33 countries participated, and 15,822 visitors attended. India EXPO is an international fair featuring trade pavilions from Belgium, Canada, and Korea, as well as a large number of foreign trade delegations from various countries.
During the fair, we held talks and established trade contacts with potential partners from India, particularly with exhibitors in the solar energy, cogeneration, and energy efficiency sectors.
The next day of the fair, we had the opportunity to present Polish green technologies at the Business Forum "Green technologies from Poland". The seminar was opened by the Polish Ambassador Prof. Piotr Kłodkowski. The GreenEvo project was presented by Ms. Agnieszka Kozłowska-Korbicz, and then each company sequentially presented its native technologies to the Indian partners invited to the meeting. EKOTOP Roman Sobczyk presented the technology of hybrid drying of municipal sewage sludge. These lectures were well received and offered an opportunity to participate in a matchmaking session and establish Business-to-Business (B2B) contacts with potential partners from India.
We were also invited to the European Night organized by EBTC (European Business and Technology Centre) – an institution that promotes European clean technologies in India and seeks solutions to prevent climate change. This event was another opportunity for EKOTOP Roman Sobczyk to meet with business representatives in India, mainly in the areas of biotechnology, energy, environment, and transport.
The summary of the Trade Mission of GreenEvo participants to India was participation in a gala diplomatic reception given by the Polish Ambassador to India. It was also another opportunity to conduct talks with business representatives in India, companies from Europe, and employees of the Economic Department and the Trade and Investment Promotion Section.
We returned to the country by plane with a transfer in Frankfurt. After over 12 hours of travel, we arrived in Warsaw, no longer as hot and humid as New Delhi. The hybrid sewage sludge drying technology offered by EKOTOP, which uses renewable energy sources, is well-received in India for its main advantages: low energy consumption and the use of combined energy sources. It is also significant that India's climatic conditions are favorable for implementing the hybrid sewage sludge drying technology we offer.
Currently, India has a severely underdeveloped sewage infrastructure and wastewater treatment. Primarily, therefore, there is a need to solve the problem of wastewater management, i.e., the construction of sewage systems and wastewater treatment plants, and only at a later stage introduce environmentally friendly technologies to solve the problem of waste arising from wastewater treatment. Participation in numerous meetings with representatives of Indian companies and EBTC employees enabled verification of the state of sludge management in India. It turns out that there is a serious problem with the management of sewage sludge containing significant amounts of heavy metals coming from treatment plants, mainly industrial wastewater. A serious threat to the environment is the fact that this sludge is also deposited in the sea.
Presence at this year's Renewable Energy India Expo enabled us to gain new experiences and solutions, constituting an interesting proposal for the use of modern photovoltaic solutions to power selected elements of hybrid dryer installations, which may become a contribution to designing autonomous installations – using their own electricity without the need to supply it from outside.