Punjab to use rice straw for power generation

After Alwar Power Company decided to get up a power plant based on mustard residues in Rajasthan, Punjab will soon have nine power projects based on rice straw. The projects will have an accumulated capacity of 108 Mw.

The projects will be implemented on a build-operate-own basis by Punjab Biomass Power Ltd, a joint venture of Bermaco Energy Systems Ltd, Mumbai, Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd, Mumbai, and Archean Granites Private Ltd, Chennai.

It will take about four years for the completion of these sites.

Talking to Business Standard, the chief executive officer of Punjab Biomass Ltd, R Jayamani, said the company would invest about Rs 60 crore per site and would break even in six to seven years.

He added it was the first project in the world where rice straw would be used for power generation.

Punjab has about 20 million acres under paddy, which yields about 100 million of rice straw per annum. The cropping pattern in Punjab also does not allow farmers to hold it for some time and they burn the rice straw to prepare the land for the Rabi crop.

He said it added to the problem of global warming and was also a health hazard for the local people.

The proposed project will come up as a hub-and-spoke model where nine hubs will be created to absorb the rice straw in the catchment areas (paddy-producing districts).

Each site will benefit about 15,000 farmers, who could get an average income of Rs 2,000 for a 5-6 acre farm.

Each plant will generate 12 Mw of electrical power per hour.

The power will be sold to the State Electricity Board for Rs 3.49 per unit for 20 years. The power will be made available to the farmers locally through the State Electricity Board's distribution network.

Locally generated and distributed power will reduce wasteful transmission and distribution losses.