Punjab can produce 2 GW of power from biomass: Anirudh Tewari
Punjab has the potential to generate about 2,000 MW of power using biomass alone, said Anirudh Tewari, principal secretary for Industries & Commerce and Renewable Energy, Government of Punjab. “One area of renewable energy which Punjab is concentrating on is biomass”, said Tewari, speaking at an industry event. “We recently developed 150 MW of projects on biomass but we have potential to generate about 2000 MW. That is the kind of biomass available.”
Presently, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh lead in terms of total megawatts of commissioned power and cogeneration projects using biomass. “I would be very happy to interact with the industry which is interested in generating power from biomass,” he said.
“Of course, we are saying that we would buy back all the power (and) we have made sure that the regulator is now coming out with a tariff order where the variable component of the fuel is also accordingly modulated.”
“We need to diversify. We need to make sure we are not only focusing on wind and solar in Rajasthan; we need to also to look at small hydro in Uttrakhand and Himachal; we need to look at biomass in Punjab and Haryana. That is the kind of mix that we need to develop,” Tewari said.
From about nine megawatts in January 2013 to about 600 MW of solar today, Tewari expects production to exceed 1,000 MW in Punjab soon.
Source:ET
