Producing zero-carbon electricity through biomass

There is still a long way to go for the country to reach its target of 5–10 percent co-firing in all plants.

In order to reduce stubble burning and to reduce the carbon footprint of thermal power plants while increasing the income of farmers, the government of India has taken various proactive steps with the establishment of the 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. In turn, farmers are getting additional income by selling the stubble or biomass for conversion into torrefied or non-torrefied biomass pellets. A steering committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Ministry of Power (MoP), has been constituted for overall monitoring of the mission and to facilitate the mission on inter-ministerial issues and Constraints.

The power ministry’s policy on “Biomass Utilisation for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal-based Power Plants” issued in October 2021 mandates all thermal power plants in the country to use 5 to 10percent biomass along with coal for power production. The policy has started to show promising results.

Approximately 59,000 metric tonnes (MT) of biomass have been co-fired in thermal power plants in the country as of today, with tenders for 12 million metric tonnes (MMT) in various stages of development for both short-term and long-term duration. Out of this, the biomass co-fired in the NCR region stands at 21000 MT, and tenders floated in the region are about 5.50 MMT. Contracts have already been awarded for more than 11 lakh MT of biomass pellets.

It has been observed that NTPC has emerged as a leader in biomass users, having co-fired approximately 58,000 MT of biomass while tendering a total of 10.7 MMT on a 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 started co-firing small quantities of biomass in Punjab, UP, and Maharashtra. The results so far are encouraging, but there is still a long way to go before the country can achieve its target of 5–10 percent cofiring in all plants in the country. This will be achieved with the active participation of all Central/State GENCOs and Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

Continuing with the market development efforts and encouraging budding entrepreneurs, the National Mission has conducted two farmers’ training and awareness programmes. Both programmes witnessed active participation by the farmers wherein they were sensitised on the negative impact of crop residue burning on soil productivity and avenues to supplement their income by participating in the value chain of biomass co-firing in TPPs. Another two programmes were held at NPTI Badarpur and NPTI Nagpur for pellet manufacturing in November 2021. Pellet vendors were apprised of the latest technologies in the palletisation process, and the issues and challenges faced by them in venturing into this relatively new field were gathered and assessed.

With the active participation of farmers, pellet manufacturers, and power plants in the country, it appears that the government’s efforts to transform the problem of stubble burning into a solution of power production with lower carbon footprints will continue to bear fruit. This would yield additional income for farmers. It is going to play a big role in the clean energy transition of the country.