National Mission on use of biomass in thermal power plants

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24-Mar-2023: Government committed to fully implement Biomass Co-firing Policy

The Ministry of Power organized a National Conference on Biomass “3P-Pellet to Power to Prosperity” in New Delhi under the aegis of National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH) and National Power Training Institute (NPTI). The conference was aimed at fostering an enabling environment to boost co-firing of biomass pellets in Thermal Power Plants in India as well as to provide a common platform for all the stakeholders in the field to share their knowledge and experience, to strengthen the biomass supply ecosystem.

The Conference was a great initiative to bring all the stakeholders on a common platform and will benefit everyone from farmer to pellet manufacturers to Thermal Power Plants besides helping in reduction of pollution especially in the NCR region caused by stubble burning during the winter season. The Biomass Co-firing Policy is an important step towards reducing emissions from the power sector. “India had already achieved the non-fossil based generation capacity targets of COP’21, 9 years ahead of the 2030 deadline. Hon’ble Prime Minister has committed to cut India’s emissions to net zero by 2070 at the COP’26. India is taking a number of steps for promoting Green Energy,” the Minister of State for Power said. He added that the government was making serious efforts to promote the biomass pellet manufacturing sector. So far about 1 Lakh MT of biomass has been co-fired more than 41 Thermal Power Stations, which is expected to increase further.

Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power appreciated the work done by the National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH). He said that a lot of work needed to be done as the competing fuels had a long history of growth and a well-established strong supply chain. He urged the State Regulatory Bodies, State Generation Companies and IPPs to promote the use of Biomass Pellets saying that despite multiple advantages, there was an inertia on part of these bodies to push for greater use of biomass pellets. Shri Alok Kumar added that the Ministry will soon write to State Regulatory Bodies in this regard. The Power Secretary also emphasized upon the need to ensure an intermediary agency as a bridge for efficient supply-demand linkages between pellet supplier/manufactures and Thermal Power Stations, which are Biomass Pellet users.

The conversion of Biomass agro residue into pellets and co-firing them in Thermal Power Plants is expected to not only save the environment from harmful effects of stubble burning but also contribute towards the reduction of country’s dependence on imported coal in electricity generation, and increase the earning potential of farmers and small entrepreneurs.

Pin It
Whatsapp

24-Mar-2023: Government committed to fully implement Biomass Co-firing Policy

The Ministry of Power organized a National Conference on Biomass “3P-Pellet to Power to Prosperity” in New Delhi under the aegis of National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH) and National Power Training Institute (NPTI). The conference was aimed at fostering an enabling environment to boost co-firing of biomass pellets in Thermal Power Plants in India as well as to provide a common platform for all the stakeholders in the field to share their knowledge and experience, to strengthen the biomass supply ecosystem.

The Conference was a great initiative to bring all the stakeholders on a common platform and will benefit everyone from farmer to pellet manufacturers to Thermal Power Plants besides helping in reduction of pollution especially in the NCR region caused by stubble burning during the winter season. The Biomass Co-firing Policy is an important step towards reducing emissions from the power sector. “India had already achieved the non-fossil based generation capacity targets of COP’21, 9 years ahead of the 2030 deadline. Hon’ble Prime Minister has committed to cut India’s emissions to net zero by 2070 at the COP’26. India is taking a number of steps for promoting Green Energy,” the Minister of State for Power said. He added that the government was making serious efforts to promote the biomass pellet manufacturing sector. So far about 1 Lakh MT of biomass has been co-fired more than 41 Thermal Power Stations, which is expected to increase further.

Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power appreciated the work done by the National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH). He said that a lot of work needed to be done as the competing fuels had a long history of growth and a well-established strong supply chain. He urged the State Regulatory Bodies, State Generation Companies and IPPs to promote the use of Biomass Pellets saying that despite multiple advantages, there was an inertia on part of these bodies to push for greater use of biomass pellets. Shri Alok Kumar added that the Ministry will soon write to State Regulatory Bodies in this regard. The Power Secretary also emphasized upon the need to ensure an intermediary agency as a bridge for efficient supply-demand linkages between pellet supplier/manufactures and Thermal Power Stations, which are Biomass Pellet users.

The conversion of Biomass agro residue into pellets and co-firing them in Thermal Power Plants is expected to not only save the environment from harmful effects of stubble burning but also contribute towards the reduction of country’s dependence on imported coal in electricity generation, and increase the earning potential of farmers and small entrepreneurs.

2022

14-Jul-2022: SAMARTH in collaboration with NTPC organizes Workshop on Biomass use in thermal power plants

National Mission on the use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH) collaborated with NTPC and organized a one-day workshop today in Chandigarh, on ex-Situ utilization of agricultural residue for co-firing in thermal power plants.

The Government, Ministries, CAQM, MoEFCC, Ministry of Agriculture & farmer welfare, MNRE, Department of Environment & Climate Change-Punjab, Department of Power-Punjab, Department of Agriculture-Punjab, Department of Science & Technology-Punjab, Department of Environment & Climate Change-Haryana, Department of Agriculture-Haryana,  Department of Energy-Haryana, SAMARTH Mission, NTPC Ltd, all GENCOs from NCR region, Financial Institutions, Pellet manufacturers, Entrepreneurs, Industries associations, OEMs, Agriculture Universities, KVKs, FPOs, CBBOs and Farmer organizations participated in the workshop.

The one-day workshop aimed to promote and facilitate ex-situ utilization of Agri-residue in various applications, with a focus on developing an eco-system for aggregation, transportation, manufacturing, supply, and co-firing of biomass in thermal power plants. The workshop has been organized in an area where a lot of potentials is there and to discuss with concerned stakeholders to resolve the issues towards expanding Biomass aggregation & Pellet manufacturing.

The Workshop started with a welcome note by Shri Sudip Nag (Mission Director, National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants & Executive Director, NTPC Ltd) describing the importance of Biomass in attaining India’s fuel energy security. Shri Ramesh Babu, Director(Operations), NTPC Ltd. highlighted the potential of Biomass as an untapped resource, additional source of income, high scale of demand & favorable government policies. He also informed about various initiatives taken by NTPC for Biomass utilization in TPPs & mentioned that 14 Plants of NTPC have already started co-firing & approximately 77000 Tons of Biomass have been co-fired to date.

Dr. M.M. Kutty, Chairperson, CAQM addressed the burning issue of air pollution, particularly in the NCR region & challenges. He explained about different possible uses of Biomass, the National policy for management of crop residue, the Central Scheme for agricultural mechanization, the policy for Biomass utilization for power generation through co-firing in Thermal power plants & also guided how the agricultural sector can come forward & contribute to control the pollution by converting Stubble waste to wealth applying Scientific & Technological solutions. 09 exhibition stalls were also installed in the workshop venue to demonstrate different technical and financial aspects by Entrepreneurs, Financial Institutions, OEMs, and SAMARTH Mission. The exhibition stalls were well appreciated by all the senior officials present in the workshop.

With more than 250 registered participants coming from Government, Ministries, CAQM, MoEFCC, MoA&FW, MNRE, senior government officials from Punjab and Haryana, NTPC Ltd, all GENCOs from NCR region, Financial Institutions, Pellet manufacturers, Entrepreneurs, Industries associations, OEMs, Agriculture Universities, KVKs, FPOs, CBBOs and Farmer organizations the Workshop on Ex-situ utilization of agricultural residue in Thermal Power Plants was one of the biggest bioenergy gatherings ever. Many Companies/budding entrepreneurs/Farmers came to the Workshop to understand & explore new business opportunities.

The workshop not only addressed the issue of stubble burning but also provided an ideal platform for all the stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience for the purposeful use of Agri-residue and earning potential.

Dr. M.M. Kutty, Chairperson, Commission for Air Quality Management inaugurated the workshop along with Shri Ramesh Babu, Director(Operations), NTPC Ltd., Sh. Arvind Nautiyal, Member-Secretary(CAQM), Sh. S. Narayanan, Member Secretary(Haryana State Pollution Control Board), Sh. Krunesh Garg, Member Secretary(Punjab Pollution Control Board), Shri Sudip Nag (Mission Director, National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants & Executive Director, NTPC Ltd), and senior Government officials from Punjab and Haryana.

24-Mar-2022: Benefits of co-firing Biomass pellets in Thermal Power Plants

Biomass co-firing in Thermal Power Station (TPS) has several benefits as under:

  1. Reduction in amount of coal used for power generation resulting in corresponding savings in CO2 emissions. This would also reduce the sector’s dependence on coal.
  2. Production of electricity from a resource (biomass) which was earlier being wasted.
  3. Income generation for farmers and job creation by pellet manufacturers.
  4. Preservation of soil culture which gets destroyed in farm fires.
  5. Reduction in air pollution due to reduction in stubble burning.

Efforts are being made to meet the demand for 5% co-firing in TPS across the country. With the Government policy in force and multiple initiatives taken to strengthen supply chain infrastructure, pellet/briquette manufacturing capacity is expected to rise in near future.

About 23 Thermal Power Plants have co-fired biomass pellets so far. Approximately 66000 Metric Tons (MT) of biomass has been co-fired till date.

As per present initiative, Biomass Pellets are targeted to co-fire with coal. The blending of biomass with coal will reduce coal dependence in thermal power plants.

2021

25-May-2021: Ministry of Power decides to set up a National Mission on use of Biomass in coal based thermal power plants

In order to address the issue of air pollution due to farm stubble burning and to reduce carbon footprints of thermal power generation, Ministry of Power has decided to set up a National Mission on use of Biomass in coal based thermal power plants. This would further support the energy transition in the country and our targets to move towards cleaner energy sources.

The "National Mission on use of biomass in thermal power plants" will have the following objectives;

  1. To increase the level of co-firing from present 5% to higher levels to have a larger share of carbon neutral power generation from the thermal power plants.
  2. To take up R&D activity in boiler design to handle the higher amount of silica, alkalis in the biomass pellets.
  3. To facilitate overcoming the constraints in supply chain of bio mass pellets and agro- residue and its transport upto to the power plants.
  4. To consider regulatory issues in biomass co-firing.

The modalities of operation and structure of the Nation Mission are under finalization. It is being envisaged that the Mission would have a Steering Committee headed by Secretary (Power) comprising of all stakeholders including representatives from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) etc. The Executive Committee would be headed by Member (Thermal), CEA. NTPC will play a larger role in providing logistic and infrastructure support in the proposed National Mission. The Mission would have full time officers from CEA, NTPC, DVC and NLC or other participating organizations. The duration of proposed National Mission would be a minimum 5 years. The following Sub-Groups are also proposed to be formed under the Mission:

  1. Sub-Group 1 : to be responsible to carry out research on properties/ characteristics of biomass.
  2. Sub-Group 2 : to carry out technical specification and safety aspects including research in boiler design etc. to handle the pilot project for higher amount of co-firing of biomass with coal in pulverized coal (PC) fired boilers.
  3. Sub-Group 3: for resolving the issues of supply chain during the mission period and sensitization programme.
  4. Sub-Group 4 : to select designated labs and certification bodies for testing of Agro-based biomass pellets and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) pellets
  5. Sub-Group 5: be formed on regulatory framework and economics of biomass co-firing in coal based Thermal power plants.

 The proposed National Mission on biomass will also contribute in the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).