NTPC co-fires 77k t biomass at 14 thermal power plants

To date, NTPC has co-fired 77,000 tonnes (t) of biomass at 14 of its thermal power plants across the country. Ramesh Babu, Director (Operations) of NTPC made the remarks at a workshop organised in Chandigarh in association with SAMART (Sustainable Agrarian Mission on use of Agro Residue in Thermal Power Plants) on ‘Ex-situ utilisation of agricultural residue for co-firing in thermal power plants. The Power Ministry’s policy on ‘Biomass Utilisation for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal-based Power Plants’ issued in October 2021 mandates all thermal power plants in the country to use 5 to 10% biomass along with coal for power production. In his address, Babu highlighted the potential of biomass as an untapped resource, additional income source, high demand scale, and favourable government policies. He also informed about various initiatives taken by NTPC for biomass utilisation in TPPs (thermal power plants) and mentioned that 14 NTPC plants have already started co-firing and approximately 77,000 t of biomass have been co-fired to date.