The Ministry of Power is set to establish a National Mission on the use of Biomass in coal-based Thermal Power Plants.
i.It will address the issue of air pollution caused by farm stubble burning and reducing carbon footprints of thermal power generation.
- It will help India’s energy transition & help in meeting India’s Clear energy targets (450 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy by 2030).
- The proposed National Mission will have a minimum duration of 5 years & will contribute to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Objectives of National Mission on use of Biomass
i.To increase the level of co-firing from the present 5% to higher level to have a larger share of carbon neutral power generation from the thermal power plants.
ii.To take up Research & Development activity in Boiler design for handling the high amount of silica, alkali in the biomass pellets.
iii.To facilitate overcoming the constraints in supply chain of biomass pellets and agro-residue and its transport upto to the power plants.
iv.To consider regulatory issues in biomass co-firing.
Operational Structure of the National Mission
i.The modalities of operation and structure are still under finalization.
- It is proposed to have a Steering Committee headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Power. It will consist of representatives from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) and others.
- The Executive Committee would be headed by Member (Thermal), Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA).
ii.NTPC Ltd (National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd) will play a major role in providing logistic and infrastructure support in the proposed National Mission.
Sub-Groups
Around 5 Sub-Groups have also been proposed to be formed under the mission.
- Sub-Group 1 : Responsible for carrying out research on properties/characteristics of biomass.
- Sub-Group 2 : Carrying out technical specification and safety aspects including research in boiler design, and handling pilot projects for higher amounts of co-firing of biomass with coal in Pulverized Coal (PC) fired boilers.
- Sub-Group 3 : To resolve issues of the supply chain during mission period and sensitization programme.
- Sub-Group 4 : To select designated labs and certification bodies for the testing of Agro-based biomass pellets and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) pellets.
- Sub-Group 5 : Be formed on regulatory framework and economics of biomass co-firing in coal-based Thermal power plants.
Recent Related News:
On December 1, 2020, Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh virtually launched ‘Green Charcoal Hackathon’ to deliberate on technology to convert Farm Residue into Green Charcoal.
About Ministry of Power
Minister of State (Independent Charge) – Raj Kumar Singh (Lok Sabha – Arrah, Bihar)
