India's Ministry of Power organised a National Conference on Biomass - “3P-Pellet to Power to Prosperity” - in New Delhi on 24 March, under the aegis of a 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.
Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of State for Power & Heavy Industries, inaugurated the conference along with Shri Alok Kumar, secretary at the Ministry of Power; Ghanshyam Prasad chairman CEA; M.M. Kutty, chairman CAQM; Gurdeep Singh CMD NTPC; Sudip Nag, mission director SAMARTH and senior government officials.
Speaking on the occasion, Gurjar said the conference was a great initiative to bring all the stakeholders together on a common platform, and that it would benefit everyone - from farmer to pellet manufacturers to thermal pellet power plants.
It would also assist in pollution reduction - especially in the NCR region, where stubble burning during the winter season can be problematic.
Gurjar added that 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," he said. "Honourable prime minister has committed to cut[ting] India’s emissions to net zero by 2070 at the COP’26.
"India is taking a number of steps for promoting green energy.”
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 at more than 41 Thermal Power Stations, which is expected to increase further, according to Gurjar.
Alok Kumar said he appreciated the work done so far as a result of the National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants (SAMARTH).
He added that a lot of work still needed to be done, as the competing fuels had a long history of growth and a well-established, robust, supply chain.
Kumar urged the state regulatory bodies, state generation companies and IPPs to promote the use of biomass pellets. Despite multiple advantages, he observed an inertia from these bodies in pushing for greater deployment of biomass pellets.
Kumar went on to say that the ministry will write to state regulatory bodies in this regard. He also emphasised a need to ensure an intermediary agency acts as a bridge for efficient supply-demand linkages between pellet supplier/manufactures and thermal power stations, which are biomass pellet users.
The conference was attended by almost 300 people drawn from ministries, regulatory bodies, financial institutions, thermal power plants, pellet manufacturers, entrepreneurs, OEMs, IITs, agricultural universities, FPOs, CBBOs and farming organisations.
Indian government will “fully implement” Biomass Co-Firing policy
