Bengal’s state power generating company WBPDCL is keen to blend biomass pellets for co-firing with coal in its thermal power plants, but some technical and commercial challenges have cropped up while implementing the central mandate.
The Union power ministry as part of its revised policy for biomass utilisation for power generation in 2021 has mandated all thermal power plants to use a 5 per cent blend of biomass pellets, which are made primarily of agro residue along with coal and increase the same to 7 per cent over a two-year period.
As of October, around 83,066 mt of biomass has been co-fired in 39 thermal power plants across the country totalling a capacity of 55,390 MW. But the share of plants in the east is significantly small.
