The central government created significant excitement in 2021 when they announced that all coal-based power plants in the country needed to have a 5% biomass blend for co-firing.
5% appears like a small amount until you consider the total amount of coal used by Indian power plants - about 720 million tons per annum!
A 5% co-firing across all power plants would mean 35 million tons of biomass, about 100,000 tons a day - not an easy task for a fairly unorganized industry to scale.
While the quantum is a challenge in itself, so is the quality and type of biomass that goes into the boilers. Till now, the focus has been centred on non-torrefied biomass pellets. However for bulk utilisation of biomass, torrefied biomass pellet production needs to be given importance, as torrefied biomass pellet has more energy density, and its characteristics are closer to coal. Currently, the technology for torrefied pellets is still in the nascent stage of development.
Through its research and development wing NETRA, the NTPC intends to provide a platform to startups to enable them to develop advanced technology for producing torrefied biomass pellets that are well-suited for decentralised small-scale users.
At EAI, we have been getting numerous enquiries in the past few months for wannabe biomass pellet entrepreneurs who clearly see large business potential in this sector. If torrefied pellets can gain ground and provide a smooth use of pellets in boilers, could it significantly accelerate the government's efforts and help grow this nascent industry much faster.
