Empowering India’s Renewable Future: NTPC and LWP Biocoal’s Indigenous Torrefaction Plant Revolutionizes Biomass-Based Energy Production

Praveen Kumar · 2024-11-03T02:59:58.051Z

• NTPC’s R&D unit, NETRA, in partnership with the Government of India-registered startup LWP Biocoal LLP, has successfully developed and commissioned a 10-ton-per-day Integrated Torrefaction and Pelletization Plant. This facility aims to demonstrate indigenous technology and promote the domestic production of torrefied pellets, which are crucial for sustainable energy generation in India. • The push for agricultural residue-based biomass co-firing, recognized by the UNFCCC as a carbon-neutral solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has been a key area of development. In support of this, the Ministry of Power launched the ‘National Mission on Use of Biomass’ in May 2021, targeting the use of biomass in coal-based thermal power plants. • NTPC, already leveraging non-torrefied biomass for co-firing in its pulverized coal-fired boilers, has achieved a 10% co-firing capacity without retrofitting. The new torrefaction and pelletization technologies are expected to significantly boost biomass use by providing torrefied pellets with higher energy density and coal-like properties, supporting NTPC’s shift toward renewable energy. This development also positions NTPC Green Energy Limited, a subsidiary of NTPC, for further advancement in the renewable energy sector.

NTPC’s R&D unit, NETRA, in partnership with the Government of India-registered startup LWP Biocoal LLP, has successfully developed and commissioned a 10-ton-per-day Integrated Torrefaction and Pelletization Plant. This facility aims to demonstrate indigenous technology and promote the domestic production of torrefied pellets, which are crucial for sustainable energy generation in India.

The push for agricultural residue-based biomass co-firing, recognized by the UNFCCC as a carbon-neutral solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has been a key area of development. In support of this, the Ministry of Power launched the ‘National Mission on Use of Biomass’ in May 2021, targeting the use of biomass in coal-based thermal power plants.

NTPC, already leveraging non-torrefied biomass for co-firing in its pulverized coal-fired boilers, has achieved a 10% co-firing capacity without retrofitting. The new torrefaction and pelletization technologies are expected to significantly boost biomass use by providing torrefied pellets with higher energy density and coal-like properties, supporting NTPC’s shift toward renewable energy. This development also positions NTPC Green Energy Limited, a subsidiary of NTPC, for further advancement in the renewable energy sector.