CM Yogi makes big decision in interest of farmers, know the matter

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath government has taken a major decision in the interest of farmers. Now, in up, farmers will get money in lieu of Paroli residues. On the other hand, the problem of burning a Paroli will be overcome and the environment can also be protected. The trial of the bio-coal production plant from the state's first agricultural residue in Bahraich has been completed and is going to start soon.

CM Yogi Adityanath had instructed the Department of Agriculture to increase the income of farmers and reduce the cost. On their own initiative, the bio-coal production unit has been set up from agricultural wastes at Risia in Bahraich in the state. For this, agricultural wastes from thousands of farmers in the area are being procured from paddy straw, maize stalks, sugarcane leaf, etc., from 1500 to 2,000 per tonne. The trial has been completed in the plant of fuel briquette pallet made from agro-waste.

So far, about 10,000 quintals have been procured from the farmers for their crop residue, Paroli, maize stalks, sugarcane leaf, etc. With this, NTPC Unchahar has also ordered a pellet supply of 1000 tonnes per day to the firm. The establishment of this unit has, directly and indirectly, provide regular employment to more than 100 people. At the same time, farmers are getting additional income from Paroli and agricultural crop residues.

किसानों की आय दुगुनी करने की दिशा में यह छोटा सा प्रयास है. इससे किसानों (Farmers) को पराली की समस्या से भी राहत मिलेगी.

लखनऊ. योगी सरकार (Yogi Government) की पहल पर उत्‍तर प्रदेश में किसानों की आय दुगुनी करने के लिए नायाब शुरूआत हुई है. इससे एक तरफ किसानों को अवशेषों के बदले रुपए मिलेंगे. दूसरी तरफ, पराली जलाने की समस्या से निजात मिलेगी और पर्यावरण संरक्षण भी हो सकेगा. बहराइच में प्रदेश का पहला कृषि अवशेष से बायोकोल उत्पादन के संयंत्र का ट्रायल पूरा हो गया है और जल्द ही इसकी शुरूआत होने वाली है. सीएम योगी आदित्यनाथ ने किसानों की आय में बढ़ोतरी और लागत में कमी लाने के निर्देश कृषि विभाग को दिए थे. उनकी ही पहल पर प्रदेश में बहराइच के रिसिया में कृषि अपशिष्टों से बायोकोल उत्पादन इकाई की स्थापना की जा चुकी है.

इसके लिए क्षेत्र के हजारों किसानों से कृषि अपशिष्टों धान का पुआल, मक्के का डंठल, गन्ने की पत्ती आदि 1500 से लेकर 2000 तक प्रति टन भुगतान कर खरीदी जा रही है. एग्रो वेस्ट से निर्मित फ्यूल ब्रिकेट पैलट का संयत्र में ट्रायल पूरा हो चुका है. अब तक किसानों से उनका फसल अवशेष पराली, मक्के का डंठल, गन्ने की पत्ती आदि करीब 10 हजार कुंटल खरीदी भी जा चुकी गई है.

किसानों की आय दुगुनी करने में यह छोटा सा प्रयास है, लेकिन इससे किसानों को पराली की समस्या से राहत मिलेगी और उसके बदले में रुपए भी मिलेंगे. प्रदेश में ज्यादा से ज्यादा कृषि अवशेषों से पैलेट्स बनाने के लिए ईकाइयां लगाई जा सकें, इसके लिए अन्य लोगों को भी प्रेरित किया जा रहा है.

पांच अन्य जिलों में भी कृषि अवशेषों से बनेंगे पैलेट्स
बायोमास ब्रिकेट एसोसिएशन उत्तर प्रदेश के अध्यक्ष राम रतन का कहना है कि प्रदेश में करीब 200 इकाइयां कार्यरत हैं. इसी तरह का संयत्र लगाने के लिए शाहजहांपुर से दो, पीलीभीत से एक, फैजाबाद से एक, बस्ती से एक और गोरखपुर से भी एक प्रस्ताव आए हैं, जिन्हें प्रशिक्षित किया जा रहा है.

यह है अवशेष की दर:
गन्ने की पत्ती की बेल (गांठ) डेढ़ रुपए प्रति किलो
सरसों की डंठल (तूड़ी) दो रुपए प्रति किलो
मक्का डंठल डेढ़ रुपए प्रति किलो
पराली (धान पुआल) बेल डेढ़ रुपए प्रति किलो
गेहूं का निष्प्रयोज्य अवशेष डेढ़ रुपए किलो
अरहर स्टैक (झकरा) तीन रुपए प्रति किलो
मसूर भूसा दो रुपए प्रति किलो

Thermal power plants not responsible for worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR: NTPC

New Delhi: State-run power giant NTPC on Sunday said thermal power plants are not responsible for the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR).

The deterioration in Air Quality Index (AQI) in NCR is the most serious health issue in these COVID times. Vehicular emissions, construction activities, road dust, industrial emissions and above all agro-waste (parali) burning in the nearby states are contributing to the smog that threatens to have an irreversible effect on the health and immune system, NTPC said in a statement.

Coal-fired power plants have often been accused for increased pollution, which may not always be correct, it said.
The coal-fired units of Dadri (NTPC plant) are closed since October, but the ambient air quality and AQI of NCR have been deteriorating day-by-day, NTPC said.

"The same units were operational during the lockdown earlier this year with practically no emissions. In fact, when it comes to emissions, Dadri coal units are amongst the cleanest not only in NTPC but the whole country," it said.

All the units of NTPC Dadri power station are equipped with state-of-the-art systems to control emissions like ESP (electrostatic precipitator) for particulate matters, dry sorbent injection, desulfurization system for SOx emission and combustion modification for control of NOx emissions.
Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) and Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) are installed for real time monitoring of ambient air quality, it added.

NTPC said its Dadri thermal plant has developed a facility for co-firing of rice stubble agro-waste pellets.

More than 8,000 tonnes of agro-waste pellets have been fired in the last two years which has avoided stubble burning in almost 4,000 acres of farmland. The use of agro-waste pellets for power generation at Dadri station is helping farmers financially and also in reducing the carbon footprint of power generation, it added.

India’s NTPC Signs $482 Million Loan Agreement with Japan for Renewable Expansion

India’s largest energy conglomerate NTPC Ltd has entered into a foreign currency loan agreement with the Japanese Government’s financial institution, the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

JBIC issued the ¥50 billion (~$482 million) funding under the bank’s Global action for Reconciling Economic growth and Environment preservation (GREEN) initiative.

JBIC will fund 60% of the loan amount, and Japanese commercial banks would fund the remainder under its guarantee. These banks include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Bank of Yokohama Ltd., San-In Godo Bank Ltd., Joyo Bank Ltd., and the Nanto Bank Ltd.

The facility is extended under JBIC’s outreach for projects, which ensures global environmental conservation. NTPC Ltd will utilize the loan proceeds for funding its capital expenditure (CAPEX) for flue gas desulphurization (FGD) and renewable energy projects.

Flue gas desulphurization is a process of removing sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants and sulfur oxide emissions from processes like the incineration of waste material.

FGD substantially reduces the sulfur dioxide emissions released in the flue gases by thermal power plants and is a critical step towards environmental sustainability.
In February 2019, the Ministry of Power proposed a ₹835 billion ($11.70 billion) plan to meet the cost of development of Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) to improve air quality and to conform to new norms notified by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) for power plants. Even during her budget 2020 speech, the finance minister said that old thermal plants would be asked to shut down if their emission is above the pre-set norms.

Later in January 2020, the Prime Minister’s office also recommended waiving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation Cess (earlier called the Clean Energy Cess, which was India’s version of carbon tax) on coal to reduce the financial strain on distribution companies, besides helping the thermal power projects install FGD to curb pollution.

In September, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) also floated a staff paper on the issue of compensation mechanism and tariff implications for retrofitting the pollution control equipment in thermal plants.

Director (Finance), NTPC, Anil Kumar Gautam, and the managing executive officer, global head of infrastructure and environment finance group, JBIC, Tanimoto Masayuki, signed the funding agreement through a video conferencing session.

Earlier this year, NTPC had raised a syndicated loan worth $750 million in Japanese Yen to fund capital expenditure for the installation of flue gas desulphurization systems. NTPC said that the loan was raised under the automatic route of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) regulations and has been fully underwritten by the State Bank of India, Tokyo; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Singapore; and the Bank of India, Tokyo.

Back in 2018, India and Japan signed a pact to enable the establishment and promotion of closer and long-term cooperation between the countries in the field of environment protection and management of natural resources.

India’s largest thermal power firm is moving away from coal

The state-owned utility NTPC’s recent announcement that it will stop pursuing new coal-fired power projects is part of an ongoing strategic shift into renewable energy by India’s largest thermal power generation company.

NTPC’s long-term target of about 32 GW of renewables by 2032 ­— 24.6% of its total planned capacity of 130 GW — makes it a key player driving the electricity sector transition, in line with India’s ambitious goal of 450 GW of renewables and hydropower by 2030.

In August 2019, NTPC announced it planned to set up a 5 GW ultra-mega industrial solar park in Kutch, Gujarat, with an investment of INR 20,000 crore (USD 2.7 billion).
Then, amidst the gloom of the economic downturn exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic came the positive news that the Gujarat government is starting the land allotment process for a massive 42 GW ultra-mega renewable energy park in Kutch.

When fully commissioned, this will be world’s largest renewable energy facility, 20 times the size of the world’s current largest operational solar park at Rajasthan’s Bhadla.
NTPC is reported to be allotted 10,000 hectares of land for its planned 5 GW ultra-mega solar park in Kutch as part of the larger 42 GW of planned capacity.

The company currently has 2.3 GW of renewable energy capacity under construction. When commissioned, this will take NTPC’s renewables portfolio to 7.3 GW.

In financial year 2019-20, NTPC acquired two of India’s largest hydro power utilities: North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) and THDC India (THDCIL), adding 3.3 GW (1.8 GW from NEEPCO and 1.5 GW from THDCIL) to its existing capacity. This acquisition also included 527 MW of NEEPCO’s gas-fired capacity.

Acting a guarantor
NTPC, along with Solar Energy Corporation of India, has also been playing an important role in facilitating renewable energy tenders by acting as a guarantor between renewable power producers and distribution companies (discoms).

The company also plans to gradually expand into electric vehicle charging infrastructure as the electrification of transport creates a convergence between the power and transportation industries.

However, while expanding into renewables, NTPC will continue to deliver thermal power for decades to come. As of August 2020, it has 52.9 GW of coal-fired capacity operational, which is a quarter of India’s total coal-fired capacity.

The financial year 2019-20 saw NTPC commission 3.4 GW coal-fired capacity against its target of 5.2 GW. In July 2020, it also added 0.8 GW of Unit 2 of Lara Super Thermal Power Project in Chhattisgarh.
The addition of new coal-fired capacity amidst no growth in power demand during 2019-20 cannibalised performance of NTPC’s own capacity. Based on reported Plant load Factor (PLF) and Plant Availability Factor (PAF), IEEFA estimates that NTPC’s coal plant utilisation factors reduced to 61.2% in 2019-20 from 66.9% in 2018-19.
Moreover, increasing landed fuel costs and capacity charges from the incremental capacity saw NTPC’s average thermal tariff soar in 2019-20.

NTPC’s average tariffs increased 15% from INR 3.39 per kWh in 2018-19 to INR 3.90 per kWh in 2019-20, whilst renewable energy tariffs in India and globally continue on a consistently downward trajectory.

In June 2020, Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) 2 GW solar auction delivered India’s lowest-yet renewable energy tariff at INR 2.36 per kWh (USD 31 per MWh) with zero indexation for 25 years.

SECI estimates the levelised cost of electricity for discoms for this tender to be INR 1.13 per kWh (USD 15 per MWh) if India experiences 5% annual inflation over the 25-year length of the project.

Biomass moves
In a move that could potentially reduce its overall fuel costs, NTPC recently invited bids for supply of six million tonnes per annum (mtpa) biomass pellets made out of stubble and husk to co-fire in its 17 coal-fired power plants across the country.

NTPC plans to have 10% of biomass co-fired with coal. This will materially reduce stubble burning, a major cause of air pollution in northern India, while also providing farmers a much needed second source of income.

NTPC has 11.7 GW of coal-fired power plants under construction and 7.4GW of coal-fired capacity under pre-construction development stages with various regulatory and environmental approvals pending, according to data from Global Energy Monitor’s (GEM) Global Coal Plant Tracker (GCPT).

IEEFA believes that NTPC will likely discontinue its 7.4 GW of pre-construction capacity. There is also a clear risk of underperformance on its 11.7 GW of under-construction power plants, which is evident in the consistently declining utilisation rates in the five years to 2019-20 due to the addition of new capacity well ahead of demand growth.
Under continuing pressure from deflationary renewable energy tariffs, India’s coal-fired fleet’s utilisation rates have collapsed to an unsustainable low of below 60% for the last three years.

The thermal power sector is also facing difficulties with getting domestic coal linkages, water unavailability, environmental litigation, financial stress of state-owned discoms and delays in construction.

As a result, the sector has accumulated USD 40-60 billion in stranded assets.

Governments, investors and utilities across the globe are rapidly moving away from coal as they realise the need to accelerate the transition to a low-cost, low-emission and sustainably profitable energy economy.

To date, 142 major financial institutions including multilateral development banks, insurers, export credit agencies and private banks have announced coal-exclusion policies.

In the last week of September, KB Financial Group became the first South Korean financial entity to renounce coal when it retracted plans to invest in coal-fired power projects. The company has decided instead to direct finances to low-carbon and renewable energy projects.

This followed news from Poland, one of the world’s top coal-producing countries, that the state-owned bank PKO BP had adopted a coal policy in 2020 that rules out financing new coal and lignite mines and coal plants. The policy also commits Poland’s largest bank to a gradual reduction in financial support for existing companies in the coal sector but does not set absolute targets for reductions.

NTPC - BIOMASS PELLETS NEWS

Posted On: 27 SEP 2020 3:01PM by PIB Delhi

NTPC Ltd, India's largest power producer and a PSU under Ministry of Power, has invited bids for procurement of biomass pellets for its various thermal plants on the basis of Domestic Competitive Basis (DCB) as part of its endeavour to reduce burning of crop residue on farmlands that cause air pollution. The power producer has envisaged consumption of five million tonnes of pellets in the current year at its 17 its power plants including NTPC Korba (Chhattisgarh), NTPC Farakka (West Bengal), NTPC Dadri (Uttar Pradesh), NTPC Kudgi (Karnataka), NTPC Sipat (Chhattisgarh), and NTPC Rihand (Uttar Pradesh).

As per a statement issued by NTPC Ltd, it had first undertaken this unique initiative on pilot basis in 2017 for biomass co-firing by replacing some of the coal with pellet based fuel at NTPC Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. Post successful implementation, NTPC now plans to replicate the model in 17 of its state of the art plants. The invitation for bids would be done through e-tendering at SRM Portal. The bidding process will be followed by the Single Stage, Two Envelope Bidding System.

NTPC is confident that co-firing will help create large scale rural employment opportunities in processing as well as supply chain for biomass. The power producer will give preference to bids from suppliers from Punjab and Haryana. The bidders needs to notify NTPC about the relevant provisions of the bidding documents before submitting their bids. NTPC had fired 100 tonne of agro residue based pellets at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh in 2017. The test-firing was carried out in four phases, with gradual increase in percentage of firing from 2.5% to 10% along with coal. Till date, the company has fired more than 7,000 tonne of agro residue pellets.

As per estimates, about 145 MMTPA of crop residue remains unutilised and most of it is burnt in India in the open fields, creating severe air pollution that leads to health issues. Open burning of agro residue is considered a major contributor to the surge in PM 2.5 in Northern India in post-harvesting season.

With its gross calorific value comparable to the bituminous coal, the power generation potential of the entire 145 MMTPA biomass burnt through co-firing in coal-based power plants is equivalent to 28,000-30,000 MW of round the clock generation of renewable power which can produce the same amount of electrical energy as can be produced from solar capacity of 125,000-150,000 MW.

With a total installed capacity of 62.9 GW, NTPC Group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations. The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, of which 5 GW comprises of renewable energy.