The Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy
recently invited
Expression of Interest
from state government
organisations, independent
power producers,
cooperative sugar mills,
project promoters and
other investors for establishment
of two Model
Investment Projects based
on bagasse cogeneration
in sugar mills having
capacity in the range of
1,250 to 2,499 tcd.
The MIPs, to be established
under a UNDP and
Global Environment Facility
assisted project on
removal of barriers to biomass
power generation in
India, would utilise 10 to
15 per cent of cane trash
along with bagasse.
The model projects,
besides standardising the
technology package for
viable cogeneration in
sugar mills of the specified
capacity range, would
help document the entire
process for further dissemination
and replication in
the country.
According to a study
conducted by Winrock
International India, a
non-profit organisation
working in the areas of
natural resources management,
energy and
environment, and climate
change, the estimated
cogeneration potential in
about 128 sugar mills of
1,250 to 2,499 tcd capacity,
spread across 15 states,
is 1,074 mw.
The viable cogeneration
capacity of a sugar mill
depends on various factors.
These include
installed mill crushing
capacity, actual cane
crushing rate and the
technological status of the
mill. Generally, an average
8 mw from mills having
capacity of 1,250 to
1,499 tcd and 10 mw from
mills of 1,500 to 2,499 tcd
is considered feasible
through part modernisation
of sugar mill processes
and equipment and
selection of appropriate
boiler pressure and temperature
configurations.
The MIPs selected by
MNRE would receive
partial financial support
for setting up the cogeneration
plant and creation
of infrastructure for
establishing fuel supply
linkages. The financial
support with matching
contribution from the
promoter would be limited
to
50 lakh per mw for
the two projects at different
locations.
Project proposals submitted
to the ministry for
consideration are required
to include details with
regard to surplus power
that would be fed to the
grid or supplied to local
industries and areas and
the indicative parameters
for the project boiler and
turbo generator. Projects
proposed to be developed
under the BOOT model
would be encouraged.
Selection of the Model
Investment Projects
would be done on the
basis of current status of
the sugar mill and its
financial condition, actual
sugar cane crushing
rate, potential for reduction
of steam and power
consumption, boiler and
turbine configuration,
innovative character of
the proposed fuel supply
linkages and reliability.
The UNDP/GEF assisted
project on removal of
barriers to biomass power
generation in India is currently
being implemented
by the MNRE. It aims to
accelerate the adoption of
environmentally sustainable
biomass power technologies
through removal
of existing barriers and
lay foundation for large
scale commercialisation
of biomass power through
increased access to
financing.
The biomass conversion
technologies that are proposed
to be considered are
combustion, gasification
and cogeneration using
different types of captive
and distributed biomass
resources.