Govt has taken several initiatives to set up biomethanation plants
The Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power R K Singh has listed out projects that has received Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for setting up of Waste to Energy projects under Waste to Energy Programme from April 2022 to March 2023.
A total of Rs.57.48 crore has been disbursed for projects in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, he told Lok Sabha through a written reply on 10 Aug.
The Government has taken several initiatives to set up biomethanation plants across the country which, inter alia, include the following:
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has notified the National Bioenergy Programme in November, 2022 with budgetary outlay of Rs.1,715 Crore for a period 1 April 2021 to 31 Mar 2026 to be implemented in two phases. The first phase has budget outlay of Rs.858 Crore. This Programme supports setting up of Bioenergy plants by providing Central financial assistance.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative in October 2018 which assures offtake of BioCNG and Compressed Biogas (CBG) after purification through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for sale as automotive fuels.
Under the GOBARDHAN scheme implemented by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, a financial assistance up to Rs.50.00 lakh per district is available for setting up of community biogas plants in villages, blocks / district.
Finalization of standard ‘Design, Construction, Installation and Operation of Biogas (Biomethane) Plant Code of Practice’.
Under the Waste to Energy Programme guidelines dated 2 Nov 2022, inspection of the plants for performance monitoring for a minimum of 3 consecutive months by designated inspection agencies is required before the release of Central Financial Assistance including a continuous operation of the plant for at least 72 hours, during which the plant must maintain an average operational capacity of 80% of its rated capacity.
In addition, developers are required to share generation data of the Waste to Energy plants through SCADA System or a remote monitoring system, to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, he said.
Further, the Ministry’s Rs.1,715 crore National Bioenergy Programme (NBP) in November, 2022, for the period 1 Apr 2021 to 31 Mar 2026, will be implemented in two phases.
The first phase has a budgetary outlay of Rs.858 Crore. This programme provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for setting up of Bioenergy plants.
As on 31 July 2023, six BioCNG plants and 11,143 small biogas plants have been commissioned, sanctions for which have been issued under the NBP guidelines notified on 2 Nov 2022.
National Bioenergy Programme, inter alia, promotes the utilization of biomass such as surplus agricultural residue, agro-based industrial residue, industrial wood-waste, forest residue, energy plantation-based biomass etc. for energy generation and therefore would not pose a risk of deforestation, said the Minister. Fiinews.com
