Short-term and long-term supplies at different tender processing stages, says Ministry
The Power Ministry has floated tenders for about 5.50 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of biomass for use in thermal plants while contracts have been awarded for more than 11 lakh MT of biomass pellets.
As on date, approximately 59,000 MT of biomass has been co-fired in thermal power plants in the country, while tenders for 12 million metric tonnes (MMT) are at different stages of process for short-term and long-term duration, the Ministry said on 19 Jan 2022.
The update was given after a review of Biomass utilization in Thermal Power Plants in the country under SAMARTH (Sustainable Agrarian Mission on use of Agro Residue in Thermal Power Plants).
In order to reduce stubble burning and to reduce carbon footprint of Thermal Power Plants while increasing the income of farmers, the Government has taken various proactive step with the establishment of National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants.
The agro-residue-biomass earlier considered as a waste product has now begun to produce zero-carbon electricity for the citizens of the country, it said.
The Ministry announced “Biomass Utilization for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal based Power Plants” policy in October 2021, mandating all thermal power plants in the country to use 5 to 10% biomass along with coal for power production.
On the policy progress, the Ministry said NTPC has emerged as a leader in biomass user having co-fired approx. 58,000 MT of biomass, while tendering a total of 10.7 MMT over short-term and long-term basis.
Among the State Governments, Haryana State Genco has been able to co-fire around 550 MT of biomass in two of its stations and float tenders worth 11 lakh metric tonnes.
Some of the Public and Private generating companies have also started co-firing small quantities of biomass in Punjab, UP and Maharashtra.
The results so far are encouraging and there is still a long way to go before the country can achieve its target of 5-10% co-firing in all plants in the country. This will be achieved with active participation of all Central/State Gencos and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Under the National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants, advertisement, awareness campaign and training activities are actively being pursued. Hoardings in public places and advertisement in popular newspapers in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have already started. More advertisement campaigns are planned in 2022 especially in the months leading up to the paddy harvesting season.
Continuing with the market development efforts and encouraging budding entrepreneurs, the National Mission has apprised pellet vendors of the latest technologies in the palletization process. Issues and challenges faced by them in venturing into this relatively new field were also assessed.
The Mission has been actively pursuing the issues raised by vendors in the Executive and Steering committee meetings held with the government across Ministries and such programs will be continued in future. The proposed website of the Mission was reviewed and would be launched shortly with a new logo for SAMARTH. fiinews.com
