Energetica India Magazine May-June 2021

RENEWABLE ENERGY 53 energetica INDIA- May-June_2021 It is expected that the installed captive power generation ca- pacity in India to grow at around 5-6% over the next 3 years, till 2023. Renewable Energy Industry Globally, there is an increasing focus on the replacement of existing coal-fired power plants with clean fuel generation in order to reduce carbon footprint and this will further augment the demand for renewable power generation in the future. Renewables comprised of non-thermal (such as Hydro, So- lar and Wind) and thermal energy sources. For example, the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) played a major role in generating the power for sale to the grid or specific customers. For the majority of the IPPs, a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) or Power Pur- chase Agreement (PPA) provides a long-term price guarantee in the renewable energy sector. The Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems or Co-gener- ation system generates electricity or mechanical power with lower emissions compared to conventional power generation systems (fired using fossil fuels). Thus, CHP systems/technol - ogies are widely preferred for captive power generation using thermal renewable energy sources such as Bioenergy, Waste Heat, Residual Waste, Solar Thermal and Geothermal, for ap- plications such as District Heating and Data Centers etc. Thermal Renewable Energy Industry For thermal renewable energy, Bioenergy will remain the prime source. Its share is expected to decline due to the expansion of alternate renewable power generation technologies, namely Solar, Photovoltaic and Wind. Higher acceptance of Bioenergy will increase investment in Biomass power plants globally. In SouthEast Asia, the biomass generation capacity is expected to increase to almost 19 GW by 2040. According to MNRE, the total capacity of 10,145 MW or 10 GW has been installed in Biomass Power and Bagasse Co-gener- ation Sector as of March 2021. The Bioenergy potential in India has been estimated at 25 GW in 2022, and the Government of India (GoI) has been consis- tently promoting the Biomass Power and Bagasse Co-genera- tion programme. India’s current bagasse-based co-generation target from the Sugar industry in 2022 is 10 GW and by 2027 is 16 GW, according to MNRE estimates. This target is pos- sible if there is a significant increase in sugarcane crushing capacity, favorable weather conditions and increased yields of sugarcane, leading to higher utilization of bagasse-based co-generation target in the future. Biomass (bagasse and non-bagasse) as fuel helps the CHP system to generate power that is sustainable. Industrial use of bagasse-based co-generation, particularly from sugar and palm oil mills, is conducive to the production of power from bio- mass. The Pulp and Paper industry constantly focuses on im- proving energy efficiency, which is attained through increased use of non-bagasse (e.g. wood waste) based fuel for power generation, and by appropriate usage of steam. The waste heat recovered from other industrial sources or pro- cesses is commonly found to generate steam and electricity in Cement processing, Iron and Steel processing, Petroleum Re- fining and Chemical processing etc. The total estimated ener - gy generation potential from waste heat in India across various industrial sectors is around 5,000 to 7,500 MW, according to a report published by MNRE. Waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant installed in cement plants, uses the heat generated through rotary kiln preheater (PH) and after quenching cooler (AQC) exhaust hot gases for power generation. According to the estimates released by Mis- sion Energy Foundation, the waste heat recovery potential in the Indian cement industry alone is close to 750-1,000 MW, in- dicating a huge opportunity for the adoption of the Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system. Despite having the high initial cost of investment, the concept of waste heat recovery is slowly picking up across the country. Residual waste is another source of input from the disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and is treated with various WtE technologies (such as incineration and gasification) for electricity generation. The Asia-Pacific market is also expand - ing rapidly owing to a significant increase in waste generation by the two big developing nations such as China and India, leading to higher investment thrust by the Government organi- zations in India. The Indian Government is providing incentives and subsi- dies for the use of renewable technologies, in order to gen- erate more and more power through waste utilization. There is a great potential for waste to energy power generation in our country, however, the production is still in a nascent stage. To build a WtE plant requires a high initial cost of investment which is another major cause of concern. To overcome this, Niti Aayog, under Swachh Bharat Mission, has proposed to set up Waste-to-Energy Corporation of India, which would construct incineration-based WtE plants through the Public-Private Part- nership (PPP) model. According to MNRE, the total estimated energy generation potential from urban and industrial organic waste in India is approximately 5,690 MW. To conclude, a rapid increase in electricity consumption, along with a growing focus on electricity generation through thermal renewable energy sources, is expected to unleash sustainable power generation in the country. Source: *MNRE and CEA