Biomass plant to tackle stubble fires

PATIALA:Farmers in the Malwa belt could benefit with the operationalisation of a biomass fuelbased power plant in Fatehgarh Sahib which will primarily use paddy and wheat straw to produce electricity with negligible air pollution

Updated At : 07:29 AM Dec 29, 2018 IST

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 28

Farmers in the Malwa belt could benefit with the operationalisation of a biomass fuel-based power plant in Fatehgarh Sahib, which will primarily use paddy and wheat straw to produce electricity with negligible air pollution.

Punjab could soon ensure that about 80,000 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy stubble per annum is consumed for producing electricity, which will also mean that the move will save the state’s environment from getting polluted, which otherwise is polluted due to the burning of straw by farmers after harvesting.

Punjab has already received low tender cost for this biomass fuel-based power plant of 1×10 MW capacity, constructed by the erstwhile PSEB at Jalkheri village. This means that the government might soon start the process to produce power at the plant after buying paddy stubble.

Earlier this year, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had decided to lease out the idle Jalkheri power plant of 1×10 MW capacity on renovate, operate and transfer (ROT) basis for a period of 20 years. This plant constructed at Jalkheri, Fatehgarh Sahib, was commissioned in June 1992. The plant remained operational till July 1995. Then, the plant was given on lease to Jalkheri Power Plant Ltd. (JPPL) in July 2001, which commissioned the plant in July 2002 and kept the plant operational till September 2007.

In 2012, efforts were made to get the project re-started by giving a licence to the private developer to run the plant on lease. Even then, no response was received.

The technical bid of tender to lease out the Jalkheri power plant on the ROT basis was opened on November 22, 2018, in which three firms participated. “The PSPCL ensured that Reverse Auction (RA) was followed which meant that the tariff of Rs 5.84/unit was quoted by one of the participant bidder, which will eventually help consumers to get power at cheaper rates,” said an insider in the department.

As per orders of Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), generic tariff for biomass power projects for 2018-19 is about Rs 8.25 to 8.36 per unit for the projects that are tendered by PEDA. “There will be a benefit of Rs 13 crore per annum which will collectively lead to a Rs 260-crore saving over the period of 20 years. The tender is being processed and the work shall be allotted to the lowest bidder in the due course of time. Once the work of renovation is allotted to the successful bidder, the plant will become operational in about 27 months from the date of signing the lease,” said a top Punjab State Power Corporation Limited official.

Low tender cost for plant

The state has already received low tender cost for this biomass fuel-based power plant of 1×10 MW capacity, constructed by the PSEB at Jalkheri village.
This means that the government might soon start the process to produce power at the plant after buying paddy stubble.