Thermal plants not co-firing enough biomass likely to face penalty

The central government has suggested the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) consider penalising thermal power plants (TPPs) that are not taking enough steps to curb emissions and not co-firing sufficient quantities of biomass.

The power ministry would also consider reducing coal supply to TPPs not complying with its policy on biomass co-firing, according to a Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) statement released on Monday.

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Power Minister R K Singh co-chaired the inter-ministerial meeting to review the progress of biomass co-firing in thermal power plants on Monday. They noted that the target of co-firing 5 per cent of biomass with coal in TPPs was still far off despite guidelines mandating them to do so.