Haryana's first biomass plant: Off into the wild, green yonder

Haryana's first biomass project has started generation of electricity. A 9.9-Megawatts (Mw) biomass power project has been commissioned at a cost of Rs 64 crore at the Khurawata village, Mahendergarh district.

While saying this here today a spokesman of Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) said the project had been commissioned under the Renewable Energy Power Policy of the state through Independent Power Producer (IPP) route. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the HAREDA with M/s Starwire India Vidyut, New Delhi to set up the project.

On 15 acres, the project uses mustard stalk, arhar stalk and other agro biomass as fuel. Everyday 250 tonnes of biomass is required. Arrangement for fuel supply has been made by the IPP.

The project has been synchronised with a 132-Kv transmission line, a kilometre from the plant. The plant is exporting 180,000 units daily to the grid. It has a raw water pond of 25,000 cubic meter capacity, fed by the Mahendergarh canal through pumps with an arrangement with the Irrigation Department, Haryana.

The rate for the power generated by the project shall be fixed by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC). For the power projects set up in 2012-13, the HERC has fixed a rate of Rs 5.59 a unit. The power from these projects shall be purchased by the state utilities on the rate fixed by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission.

He said under the Renewable Energy Power Policy, many incentives are provided for power generation. These include industry status, exemption from electricity duty, change of land use charges and local area development tax, wheeling and banking facility and PPA for 20 years or more depending on the plant's life.

He said another 9.5-Mw biomass project had been setup in the Dhana Narsan village in Bhiwani district. It would soon be commissioned as the work for grid connectivity was in progress by the state transmission utility.

He said Haryana had a potential to generate 1,000 Mw power from agro biomass and the success of these biomass power projects would determine the future road map for development of biomass power in the state. These projects will not only augment the power supply in the state, but would also bring prosperity to the farmers who would get a good price for their agro biomass and create many direct and indirect employment opportunities for the locals, he added.