Showing posts with label clima5e change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clima5e change. Show all posts

Monday, September 17, 2018

BIO MASS Utilization Pakistan




BIO MASS Utilization Pakistan

Introduction
The last government (PMLN) managed to deal with the energy crisis but failed to address the heavy dependence upon imported fuels. The way out of this shortcoming is to produce power at a low cost from cheaper indigenous sources which are abundantly available but have been largely ignored. These sources can be classified as biomass. Pakistan is exploring alternative indigenous resources for power generation that are cheaper and have enormous potential. The progress so far has not been entirely encouraging although bagasse  has contributed to the energy mix.


Being an agrarian country Pakistan has numerous sources of biomass available from agricultural crops and solid waste generated in huge quantities which are suitable for power generation. The main sources of biomass are agricultural residues, animal waste, municipal solid waste and industrial waste. Agricultural residues are those crop leftovers which have a fuel value but their potential is not being fully utilized. The main agricultural residues available locally are wheat straw, rice husk and straw, cane trash and cotton sticks and plant residue.
However, at present, wheat straw is the main source of cattle fodder, so it cannot be considered as a source of fuel to generate power. Similarly, rice husk and straw is presently being used as a source of fuel in the brick kilns and as cattle feed, and therefore, not considered.
 On the other hand, the waste of sugarcane crop which is left in the field and subsequently burnt by the farmers; cane trash is a biomass source which is available in substantial quantities and can be classified as a potent source to produce power. Similarly, cotton sticks and plant residue are also leftovers in field. Part of the leftovers is used for cooking purposes, while some quantity is lifted by the brick kiln users. Around 30 per cent is in excess and can be used as a biomass source.
As per data collected, sugarcane tops and trash constitutes around 30 per cent of the plant out of which tops make up 20 per cent. Cane tops are used as cattle fodder and are taken away by the cane harvesting labor to feed dairy animals. The other waste, cane trash constitutes 10 per cent of the sugarcane crop. Leaving aside wastages nine per cent cane trash is considered as available biomass for power.
Research has determined the net calorific value of cane trash at 6.7 Gj/Ton. Taking this figure as the benchmark the power generating potential of sugarcane trash available is: 
  Cane Power Potential

Thermal
Power
Cane
Energy
Potential
Trash
at 6.7 GJ/Ton
at 2.19 Tons/MWH
Year
Tonnes
GJ
GWh
2008
5752800
38543760
2626.85
2009
4504050
30177135
2056.64
2010
4443561
29771858.7
2029.02
2011
4877765
32681025.5
2227.29

The ratio of plant waste to cotton is 3:1. From the waste a portion is used by farmers as cooking fuel, some is lifted by the brick kiln operators while a substantial quantity is available for use as fuel for power. The net calorific value of cotton sticks has been determined as 7.3 Gj/Ton. 
  Cotton Sticks Power  Potential
Cotton
Cotton
Power
Sticks
Sticks
Potential
Power
Production
Available
at 7.33GJ/Ton 
Potential
Year
Tonnes
Tonnes
GJ
GWh
2008
5947248
1486812
14868127.33
620
2009
6030882
1507720.5
1507720.57.33
628
2010
6589320
1647330
16473307.33
686
2011
5898711
1474677.75
1474677.757.33
614

Another significant area for energy prospects is the manure from dairy animals and cattle. The technology for extracting energy from cattle and dairy animals is through generating biogas from manure. This technology is well-entrenched in our culture and its use will not pose any barriers. The additional advantage for power from manure is the organic compost and slurry which can be subsequently used in the fields as a rich source of fertilizer. This will result in additional revenues at significant levels improving the profitability of the dairy farmers and the power operators.
The quantity of biogas in any feedstock is dependent on the organic content of the feedstock, the average organic content of cattle and buffalo
  Biomass Power  Potential

Biogas at
Thermal Energy
Power
 Manure
30m3/Ton
in Biogas
Potentail
Production
manure
at 22GJ/m3
2.14kWh/m3
Year
Tonnes
M3
GJ
GWh
2007
322039500
9661185000
212546070000.00
20675
2008
333044250
9991327500
219809205000.00
21381
2009
344443200
10333296000
227332512000.00
22113
2010
348746550
10462396500
230172723000.00
22390
2011
368434650
11053039500
243166869000.00
23654

Municipal solid waste (MWS) is another feedstock which is available in substantial quantities in major cities. 
  Municipal Solid Waste Power  Potential
MSW
City
Tons/yr
GJ/yr
GWh/yr
Karachi
2920000
20118800
9145
Hyderabad
356131
2453743
1378
Faialabad
337370
2324479
1305
Lahore
2190000
15089100
8473
Multan
365000
2514850
1412
Peshawar
295395
2035272
1143
Gujranwala
300760
2012236
1164
Quetta
137970
950613
534
Rawalpindi
219000
150890
847
Total
7121626
47649983
25401

Having determined the power potential in the agricultural and urban waste, following is a summary of the total value which can be realized
  :Total Biomass Power  Potential
Power
Biomass
Biomass
Generated
Power
Power
Pakistan
Potential
Potential
Year
GWh
GWH
MW
2008
72770
49322.85
11260.92
2009
69659
49466.64
11293.75
2010
73561
50229.02
11467.81
2011
73805
50632.29
11559.88


The advantages of adopting the biomass route will be multi-dimensional. For instance, sustained power supply will be available at affordable rates. It will also be an additional source of income for the growers of sugarcane, cotton crop and dairy farmers, creating additional profits for the stakeholders. Similarly, it will be a source of business opportunities for traders buying biomass raw material from the farmers processing it and selling to power operators.
Generating biomass will increase sources of employment in the rural areas and prevent migration to urban centers. Power from biomass can be generated through technology platforms and equipment which is mainly indigenous and the technical manpower to operate it is also abundantly available.
The MSW-based power plants have to be installed in the cities (where the garbage is generated), thus removing the problems associated with garbage collection and disposal and making available a source of income for the funds-starved civic agencies of the cities. About 3,000 MW combined gross electricity can be generated using agricultural residue and municipal solid waste.  Although setting up centralised biomass-based power plants will be difficult, this can be overcome by installing a chain of smaller power plants ranging from 15MW to 50MW in areas where the biomass is available in economical quantities. This will also save in the transportation costs and will result in reduced line losses.
In the absence of a centralized approach the second option would be to go for micro power plants of 15 kW to 1000 kW range based on gasifier and biogas plants using the agricultural biomass and animal manure as the feedstock. This route will also be viable and could be adopted on the basis of individual participation of the small and medium land holding farmers. 
 World Bank Bio Mass Mapping  

The World Bank has published a ‘Biomass Atlas’ of Pakistan which presents the potential for setting up power plants at biomass producing sites such as sugar and rice mills, municipal solid waste landfills and dairy farms. The atlas also identifies scope for green field power plants fed by the residue feedstock of crops.
Bagasse offers the highest potential as fuel for cogeneration plants at the existing sugar. The new high-pressure cogeneration plants at the country’s 84 sugar mills could have a combined power capacity output of 1,844MW based on bagasse of about 17.1m tonnes a year produced by these mills. These potential cogeneration plants could produce a trade surplus of about 4,944GWh per year, if only bagasse is used, or 10,759GWh/year if an additional biomass feedstock of around 12.9m tonnes per year is used as fuel for the cogeneration plants.
Municipal solid waste (MSW) can also be used for large-scale grid-connected power plants. With Estimated total MSW amount of around 27,000 tonnes/day at 12 surveyed landfills.  Around 360MW of gross power capacity can be generated based on the anaerobic digester-based power generating technology. These potential MSW-based power plants could sell about 2,687GWh/year to the grid.
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However, rice husk and cattle manure, with a limited energy potential can be used to set up captive power plants for running rice mills and livestock farms. The report does not include all the existing MSW landfills, rice mills and livestock farms in the country due to the lack of data. The potential for Greenfield power plants using crop harvesting residues was assessed based on their site suitability indicators, the feedstock sourcing area size, the road network density in the region and the distance to the grid.
The site suitability maps were produced for 21 different combinations of energy conversion technologies and power plant capacities.
The theoretical generation potential of crop residues was estimated at 25.3m tonnes per year with an equivalent energy potential of 222,620 tonnes per year. Bagasse accounts for 66pc of this energy potential, followed by rice husk with 20.3pc, maize cobs with 8.8pc and maize husk with 4.9pc.
The theoretical potential of crop harvesting residues was estimated at around 114m tonnes per year with an equivalent energy potential of 448,990GWh per year. 45.8pc of the total energy potential comes from cotton stalk, 30.8pc from wheat straw, 13.0pc from rice straw, 6.1pc from sugarcane trash, and 4.3pc from maize stalks.
Based on the existing uses of the residues by the farmers, the technical potential of crop harvesting residues was estimated at about 25.1m tonnes per year with an equivalent energy potential of 95,065GWh (342,236 TJ/year).
Rice straw accounts for 30.4pc of this energy potential, followed by wheat straw with 27.3pc, cotton stalk with 26.4pc, sugarcane trash with 12.9pc and maize stalks with 3.0pc. It can be seen from these percentages that large amounts of cotton stalk and wheat straw are being used by farmers in the form of cooking fuel, animal fodder and fertilisers, or sold to industries.
In case the farmers’ willingness to sell their biomass residues is taken into account, the technical potential becomes 280,177 TJ/year. Rice straw and wheat straw then account for a majority of this energy potential with 29.2pc each, followed by cotton stalk with 27pc, sugarcane trash with 11.5pc and maize stalk with 3.2pc.
There is a potential use of MSW for energy generation at the landfills. The industrial survey covered 16 landfills in major cities. However, only 12 landfills provided adequate data for the analysis. The combined amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) collected at these landfills is around 29,000 tonnes per day. However, MSW is being sold out for fertiliser production, and the remaining amount of around 27,000 tonnes a day is currently dumped at the 12 landfills. This amount of MSW could generate around 360MW of gross power capacity in the anaerobic digester-based power plants.
The industrial survey covered large-scale livestock farms with a minimum of 1,000 cattle heads. This led to the survey of five dairy farms. Only three of them provided the required information on their GPS coordinates and the production of livestock manure. The combined manure production of these farms is 100 tonnes/day which could support 0.36MW of gross power capacity for anaerobic digester-based power plants.

Progress so far
Bagasse
A number of sugar mills have start power generation by utilizing bagasse (cane pulp). These sugar mills have entered into arrangements with NEPRA or power distribution companies. This will help meet peak power demand during winter.  Presently, the country’s 80 sugar mills have a total installed cane crushing capacity of 75m tonnes per season, of which around 80pc is being utilized, industry sources say.
  
During the crushing season (2013-14), sugar mills consumed around 60m tonnes of sugarcane to produce over 5.58m tonnes of white refined sugar. However, during the upcoming crushing season, the industry expects to produce around 6m tonnes of sugar.
  National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in 2014 awarded licenses to 24 sugar mills to generate power from bagasse and supply it to the national grid. The authority also approved an upfront tariff of Rs10.50 per unit. The sugar industry estimates that the country can get around 3,000MW once all 80 sugar mills start using bagasse for power generation.
Since most sugar mills have already shifted their power generation from costly furnace oil to bagasse over the last 6-7 years, industry sources believe it would not need much fresh investment and time to make surplus electricity available to the national grid.
Ever since the industry helped growers introduce better seeds and techniques, they say economies of scale have also changed.  Pakistan is the 5th largest country in the world in terms of area under sugarcane cultivation, and 11th by production. The sugar industry is the second-largest agro-based industry
Pakistan has added a number of plants based on bagasse. Bagasse is the crushed residue of sugarcane. It is an excellent raw material for power generation. Pakistan sugar industry is one of the biggest in the world and comprises 81 sugar mills with an annual capacity of about six million tons sugar. The industry crushes about 30 to 40 million tons of sugarcane that yields about 12 million tons of bagasse as an industrial waste that has a potential of generating 3000 MW electricity. According to a recent report by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), about 16 sugar mills are supplying nearly 120 MW surplus powers to electric distribution companies for national grid while many others are producing just enough power for their use only. 2018 installed capacity based upon bagasse is presented as follows:
Station
Community
Capacity (MW)
Status
26.35
Operational.
26.35
Operational.
26.35
Operational.
30
Operational.
62.4
Operational.
34.1
Operational.
32
Operational.
26.5
Operational.
22.9
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
20.1
Operational.
18.5
Operational.
16.8
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
13.4
Operational.
10.1
Operational.
10.1
Operational.
6.7
Operational.
41
Operational.
36
Under construction. To be operational by Dec 2017.
15
Under construction. To be operational by Dec 2017.
19
Under construction. To be operational by Dec 2017.
20
Under construction. To be operational by Dec 2017.
67
Under construction. To be operational by Dec 2017.
30
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.[
26.5
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
32
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
36
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
30
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
30
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
22
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.
31
Under construction. To be operational by 2018
26
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.[
26
Under construction. To be operational by 2018.

 

: Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills on Wednesday unveiled a plan to set up bagasse-fired power plant and a steel rebar manufacturing facility with a combined cost of Rs6.5 billion.The company decided to set up a captive dual fuel power plant of 26 megawatts to supply electricity to the sugar mills and its various businesses, it said in a statement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange.  approximately Rs6.5 billion.”The firm said it set up a 100 percent-owned subsidiary by the name of Mirpurkhas Energy Limited (MEL) to produce power from bagasse.  .

Tariff considerations and development– Bagasse

 

Pakistan produces more than 12 million tons of bagasse (crushed residue of sugarcane), as an industrial waste, which has potential of generating 3,000-MW electricity. Almost all 80 sugar mills have in- house bagasse-based cogeneration power plants, mostly to meet their own requirements. Only a few mills have surplus electricity to sell to the utility company.
In November 2005, the ECC of the Cabinet approved plans for increasing existing capacity of these co-gen power plants to 700 MW, in the first phase, so that more surplus power could be ‘exported’. The response of sugar industry however was lukewarm.

In January 2006, the National Policy for Power Co-Generation by Sugar Industry (Co-Gen Policy) was notified, offering attractive incentives to sugar mills as were available to the IPPs under Power Policy. Only Fatima Sugar Mills showed interest in constructing a dual-fuel power project of 125-MW using natural gas as secondary fuel. The LOI was issued in June 2007, but project did not see light of the day.
The Co-Gen Policy was revised in January 2008, in consultation with the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) that committed to set up a series of 60-MW or above projects to generate 1,000 MW on commercial basis by 2010, doubling the combined capacity by 2012.
Subsequently, NEPRA announced in June 2008 an indicative tariff of US cents 8.286 per kWh levelised for a period of 30-years of project life, but it was not accepted by mills. Later, NEPRA agreed to offer upfront tariff of cents 9.28. Again, PSMA demanded even a higher tariff—-a minimum of cents 11.1.
In India, the maximum tariff for similar co-gen power is cents 7.5 per unit. There is no rationale to allow PSMA any further increase, as currently, energy is being delivered by mills to PEPCO/DISCOs at about cents7.5. Having analyzed tariff petition, the NEPRA could not agree to a higher tariff. As a result of deadlock on tariff issue, no progress could be achieved on proposed projects (except one).
These are Fatima Sugar Mills (100MW), Ramzan Sugar Mills (100MW), JDW Power/JDW Sugar Mills (80MW), Chishtia Sugar Mills (65MW), Janpur Energy/RYK Sugar Mills (60MW) and Dewan Energy/Dewan Sugar Mills (120MW).
At that point in time seven sugar mills sold their surplus power to government. Layyah Sugar Mills, with an installed capacity of 9.2MW, exports 4MW. Hamza Sugar Mills operates 23.6MW plant, whereas Shakarganj Energy/Shakarganj Sugar Mills operates a 20MW co-gen power plant. Al-Noor Sugar Mills generates 21.8MW, and now plans to increase capacity to 36.8MW. RYK Sugar Mills (Rahim Yar Khan) generates 18MW and sells 10MW. Likewise, Al-Moiz Sugar Mills generates 27MW and exports 15MW. JDW Sugar Mills generates 22MW, with a surplus of 10MW electricity.
JDW Group owns three mills, namely JDW Sugar Mills, JDW-II Sugar Mills (United Sugar Mills) and JDW-III Sugar Mills (Ghotki Sugar Mills). JDW Power is the only project that has taken-off among the six identified projects. Compared to upfront tariff of cents 9.28, NEPRA has determined cents 9.9 tariff for JDW Power.
The company is constructing three co-gen power plants, in phases, of a cumulative capacity of 80MW. The project will be completed by 2014 at a cost of $123.5 million. These power plants, which will be based on state-of-the-art high-pressure high-temperature boiler technology, will be dual-fired plants using coal as the other fuel.
The upfront tariff is based on a feasibility study submitted by PSMA for a notional 60-MW capacity co-gen project using bagasse and coal as fuels, involving capital investment of $96.67 million. Given the project parameters, even the feasibility is questionable. First, it is no more a co-gen power plant, and energy-from-waste, as bagasse mixed with coal will be used during crushing season and coal during off-season. Ironically, only 25 per cent bagasse will be used and 75 per cent coal as fuel.
Second, imported coal will be used, depleting foreign exchange earnings, and the project will no more be environmental-friendly. Third, infrastructure for coal transportation from Karachi to rural areas of mills’ locations will be required.
Fourth, only a small part of existing infrastructure of co-gen facilities will be utilised as green-field projects are proposed.
Last, and most important, this electricity will not be inexpensive. Globally, capital cost and tariff of waste-based and/or co-gen power is much lower than conventional power plant, but in this case, both are extremely high. Bagasse, which is of zero price, is to be charged almost at par with coal price. Again, bagasse availability is worked out only for 100 days while crushing season in Pakistan is of 120-165 days.
In final analysis, the PSMA proposed projects are neither economically viable nor technically feasible.
The government will be well-advised not to promote these projects, and instead, adopt policy measures to encourage construction of small 25-30 MW co-gen plants using bagasse as primary fuel.
According to the regulator, the fuel cost component of the bagasse-based captive power projects as well as the new co-generation projects under Upfront Tariff, 2013 have been worked out and are being indexed based on prices of foreign coal (South African) on annual basis.

The Authority has determined new upfront tariff on 10 November, 2017 for bagasse new co-generation projects. In the determination, the Authority has worked out the fuel cost component using market prices of bagasse and allowed indexation thereon at the rate of 2% upward after every two years.

However, now the Authority has decided to initiate suo-moto proceedings to modify the working and indexation mechanism of fuel cost component of bagasse-based captive power projects and new co-generation power projects awarded upfront tariff, 2013 to provide fair and transparent tariff. A hearing was scheduled for this purpose on March 15, 2018 at NEPRA Tower, Islamabad.
  
 The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) is trying to block a move of the power sector regulator to allow the influential sugar millers a higher tariff on bagasse-based power generation that will earn those billions of rupees over the years. The Power Division has filed a review petition to challenge the lucrative tariff which was heard by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Thursday. NEPRA has set old tariff for 12 bagasse-based power plants of sugar millers despite issuing a new tariff. The old price will provide the millers with Rs48 billion in revenues from the electricity consumers over 10 years. The old tariff stands at Rs12.09 per unit whereas the new price has been set at Rs8.86 per unit.
Sugar barons, many of whom are associated with the ruling and opposition political parties, have already got over Rs10 billion on account of freight subsidy on the commodity’s exports during the four-and-a-half-year tenure of the present government.
Nepra set the old tariff though the millers had agreed with the then Ministry of Water and Power on the new tariff of Rs8.86 per unit. After that, the ministry issued them a power acquisition request.
Earlier, the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G) refused to give its consent to power production by 12 bagasse-based plants because of surplus generation capacity in the country following the start of new power plants. The issue was raised by the Sindh chief minister in a meeting of the National Economic Council. The prime minister directed on May 20, 2017 to hold dialogue with the provincial government on the transmission and distribution issues being faced by it.
Thereafter, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Planning and Development on May 24, which was attended by the Sindh chief minister, Punjab minister of mines and minerals, energy secretaries of Sindh and Punjab, minister of water and power and minister of state for water and power. It was suggested in the huddle that based on supply and demand numbers, energy purchase from the bagasse-based plants could depend on “must run” during the cane crushing season and “take or pay” or “take and pay” for the remaining period.  The Sindh government agreed to the proposal.  The millers then approached NEPRA and accepted the tariff based on the power acquisition request because they wanted a higher tariff.
The regulator, while accepting the petition of the millers, rejected the power acquisition request of the CPPA-G and declared the plants as must run. Now, the CPPA-G has approached the regulator for a review of the decision.

 

 

Biomass Power

Biomass capacity added and under implementation is presented as follows:

 

Station
Community
Capacity (MW)
Status
0.1
Operational.
40
Under construction. To be operational by Apr 2021.
20
Under construction.
40
Under construction.

 

 Biomass Plants under Implementation

 

Of the two waste-to-energy projects, both of 12MW gross capacity each, which were approved by the Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) in September/October 2010,the SSJD Bioenergy is currently in the advanced stage, and scheduled to go into operation by the first quarter of 2014.
The project located in Mirpurkhas (Sindh) will cost $19.82 million. Generation licence was issued by Nepra in June 2011, while feasibility report was approved by the AEDB in July 2011. The EPC contract has been signed with a Chinese company in November 2011, and Nepra has already determined the tariff.
The other project, Lumen Energia, is being developed in Jhang (Punjab) costing $22.62 million. Nepra issued the company the generation licence in February 2012, and has determined tariff as cents 12.92 per unit, levelised for a period of 30-years project life. The project was scheduled to achieve COD by December 2013, but has been delayed.
Both the projects are based on agricultural/biomass waste that includes sugarcane bagasse and trash, rice straw and husk, cotton waste and alike, and will use conventional steam power cycle technology.
Energy generated by these projects will be dispersed through local grids. Pakistan generates about 10 million tons of crops residue annually, which can be used as feedstock to generate 120-MW electricity. Lumen Energia has plans to install a series of five units of same capacity waste-to-energy plants in Punjab.
The other important waste that can be converted into energy is municipal non-hazardous solid waste. Pakistan generates some 56,000 tons of solid waste on a daily basis in urban areas only, which is increasing at the rate of 2.4 per cent annually. There are advanced waste-to-energy conversion technologies that have been proven commercially viable and sustainable, and recognised as renewable. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) provides a primary source of alternate energy, as feedstock for waste-to-energy plants.
Currently, Fauji Cement Company operates a RDF processing plant of 12 tons per hour, using municipal solid waste of Islamabad/Rawalpindi for firing RDF in the kiln instead of coal. Also, a 500-tons capacity plant established in Lahore converts municipal waste into RDF for supplies to major cement plants.
Not a single waste-to-energy plant has come on stream as yet on commercial basis though feasibility studies for setting up waste-to-energy plants based on municipal solid waste were carried long ago out for installation in selected cities of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Sialkot, Peshawar and Quetta.
The first-ever project was launched in Peshawar in January 2005, on BOT basis, with a capacity of producing 4.8MW electricity.The project, which was a joint venture of foreign investors with the provincial government, was wound up half the way in 2009.
Likewise, a waste-to-energy plant of 10-MW capacity was planned for construction in January 2009 in Karachi in collaboration with a US-based company, using 8,000 tons of municipal waste. There has been no progress. The city district government of Rawalpindi had approved in December 2009 a project of installing a RDF plant using 850-1,200 tons of municipal waste per day, under public-private partnership.
In March 2010 foreign investor under the name ‘Waste Management Pakistan Ltd’ was awarded the contract, getting 75 acres on long lease. The project, costing about euro 10 million, was scheduled for completion by February 2010 but meanwhile the government cancelled the contract.
Similarly, the Punjab government had pre-qualified in April 2010 three parties namely DG Khan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement and Habib Rafiq for setting up a RDF plant in Faisalabad. There is no further news, however. Now, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) plans to establish a waste-to-energy plant under private-public partnership modality, for which the CDA would be providing land and selling the waste.
Luckily, the international agencies have revived their interest recently. A World Bank funded project has been initiated by the AEDB for conducting study for establishing waste-to-energy projects in 20 cities.
Also, baseline surveys and demonstration projects have been launched by the UN-Habitat in Rawalpindi, Muzaffargarh and Khairpur, in collaboration with the International Environmental Technology Centre, which is a branch of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) mandated to promote environmentally sound technologies in developing countries with focus on waste management issues. Likewise, an RDF-based project of 5-10 MW capacity is proposed to be installed in Karachi, which is being funded by the US Trade Development Agency (USTDA).
Ever-increasing prices of fossil fuels have promoted waste-to-energy technology, which is fast becoming an increasingly important option for alternate power generation the world over. It has the potential to contribute largely to total energy mix in Pakistan as well, for on-grid as well as off-grid applications.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has fixed upfront levelised tariff for biomass power projects at Rs 8.6957 per unit for 30 years, to be applicable from Commercial Operation Date (COD). Keeping in view the potential of around 1,000MW from biomass, as indicated by the Ministry of Energy, the authority decided to initiate proceedings for determination of new upfront tariff for generation of electricity from biomass power projects.

Tariff Biomass

Accordingly, a draft upfront tariff proposal was developed on the basis of information available with the Authority. During the hearing, Punjab Bio Energy and other representatives of PPDB stated that the project cost of $0.8 million is on lower side as compared to cost allowed in the cases of SSJD and Lumen Energia. The representatives of Punjab Bio Energy submitted that the efficiency is directly linked with the project cost. Punjab Bio Energy submitted that the project cost should be $1.86 million instead of proposed $0.8 million. The feasibility study for the PPDB has been conducted by AF Consultant. According to the representative of the AF Consultant, the project cost in the feasibility study based on European technology is $1.53/MW. The representative of AF Consultant submitted that this is comparable with the other technologies and the project cost for reliable technology needs to be allowed for operational period.

The authority considers that the project cost of $1 million recommended by the AEDB for incineration projects is reasonable. According to the tariff determination, the upfront tariff has been worked out on the basis of the interest rate of 6 percent being offered under the SBP scheme. In case of commercial local financing, the tariff shall be computed using applicable KIBOR plus a premium of 300 basis points. In case of commercial foreign financing, the tariff shall be computed using applicable LIBOR plus a premium of 450 basis points. In case negotiated rates/spread is less than the said limits, the savings shall be shared by the power purchaser and the power producer in the ratio of 60:40 respectively.

According to the IRENA and REN21, the maximum construction period of biomass power plant construction period is from 18 to 24 months. NEPRA in bagasse-based power generation projects allowed 24 months construction period from the date of acceptance. From date of financial close, the construction period is 18 months. In the light of the available research on the issue and already precedence available in other countries, the 24 months construction period is sufficient for the biomass power projects.

The authority has further decided to allow financial close time of six months from the date of acceptance of tariff and construction period of eighteen months from the date of financial close for this upfront tariff. The applicability period of this tariff shall be two years from the date of issuance of this tariff. In bagasse-based Upfront Tariff Cost of working capital based on KIBOR plus 2 percent spread for 45 days fuel invoice receivables was allowed in line with other projects. In the instant case 45 days fuel inventory and 30 days receivables were proposed. No comments received regarding the working capital. Accordingly, based on 45 days'' inventory and 30 days'' invoice receivables cost of working capital has been assessed as Rs 1,255/kWh. The working capital component of tariff will be adjusted quarterly based on variation in three months KIBOR.

The power producer ie Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) shall submit relevant authentic documentary evidence to the Authority, for adjustment within 15 days of COD of the relevant company. In case the premium on LIBOR/KIBOR is higher than the determined premium, no adjustment on the basis of actual higher premium will be allowed. The interest during construction shall be adjusted at the time of COD on account of actual project financing mix and variation in quarterly LIBOR/KIBOR (where applicable) over the approved reference rates. The interest during construction shall be reassessed for the allowed construction period of eighteen months, starting from the date of financial close of the relevant company, on the same computation basis as already adopted, by applying 3 months KIBOR/LIBOR of last day of the preceding quarter (plus allowed spread thereon), on the basis of phasing for debt injection considered in the computation of upfront tariff. The power producer shall submit relevant authentic documentary evidence to the Authority for the aforesaid adjustment within fifteen days of the COD of the relevant company  
In the review petition, the CPPA-G argued that the basket price would be adversely affected if the sugar mills were given the old tariff. It estimated the financial impact of the old tariff at Rs48 billion over the next 10 years.
A senior official of the Power Division told The Express Tribune that consumer power tariff would go up Rs0.60 per unit excluding taxes and by including taxes the tariff would be Rs0.65 per unit.  
Punjab agriculture department estimates 12 million ones biomass in the province surplus, the Punjab government has given it the go-ahead to get a pilot project for power generation launched finally. 
Talking about background of the project, the official said the first study on biogas power-generation mode in Punjab had been conducted and compiled in 2011, which revealed that the province generates about 30 million ones biomass (waste of crops such as hay of wheat, cotton buds and dead-plants, maize leaves and hay and other crops waste) annually.
“Around 50pc of the total available biomass is consumed as animal feed and the rest goes waste. Later, another study was conducted that showed availability of 22 million ones of biomass in the province of which 10 million ones is consumed as animal feed and the rest is either of no use or waste,” the official said.
He said the plan and launch of the project was envisaged after the government came to know that various countries were successfully generating power through biomass. “The European Union members are on top in this regard, as they have planned to produce 50pc of power from biomass till 2024.”
Talking about biomass power generating experience by private sector of the country, the official said the first power plant on biomass was installed by a leading business group (Nishat). “It is the first plant having power generation capacity of 16MW. Since the intensity of heat in biomass is some less than other modes, they are also mixing some quantity of coal while burning the biomass for power generation purpose. Since the plant is being run successfully, we also desire to do so,” the official said.  

During the peak of the energy crisis the country’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector switched over    to ‘alternative energy resources’. During the peak if the energy crisis in Pakistan   LSM sector started exploring substitutes  , “While power-intensive units like steel melting, edible oil/ghee and textile spinning opted for generators that run on high speed diesel and/or furnace oil, gas intensive-units like paper, glass and chemicals shifted to boilers that can run on coal, waste heat and biomass.”
The SBP report discusses response of different industries to energy shortages. In the textile sector, spinning and weaving of fiber are electricity-intensive, whereas dyeing and finishing are gas-intensive processes.  Most large spinning units are now run on back-up diesel generators, whereas in weaving sector a large number of units in Faisalabad, use power-looms for fabric manufacturing; some medium-sized power-looms have installed diesel generators. A number of textile processing units have installed boilers that can run on bio-fuels like cotton waste, rice husk and other waste.
Big units such as Nishat, Gul Ahmed, Sitara and Sapphire have captive power plants. More importantly, these companies use gas-fired combined-cycle power plants, which generate power from gas; and the waste produced is automatically utilized to generate steam. The steel sector comprises melting and re-rolling units. In the steel melting process, scrap is melted by using arc furnaces to form billets.
“This process is 100 per cent electricity-intensive and cannot be substituted by any other energy source,” the SBP quarterly report said and noted that facing power shortages, smaller firms located in Punjab, switched to diesel-run generators, though it increased production costs and also reduced productivity as uninterrupted power supply is required to melt steel scrap.
In contrast, larger units in Karachi switched to captive power, which required higher fixed costs, but guaranteed smooth production without interruptions. The re-rolling process requires the preheating of billets to shape final products, which is a gas-intensive process.
“It is estimated that around a dozen re-rolling units in Punjab have installed coal gasification plants in the previous two years,” the report revealed and added that those plants were imported from China, with cost ranging widely between Rs4 million and Rs30m, depending upon size and specification. In the chemical sector, caustic soda and soda ash are highly gas-intensive products. Large players in the sector are shifting to coal-fired boilers.
The paper industry, which is energy-intensive and requires combination of electricity and steam for paper production, the shortage of main fuel natural gas, forced large number of pulp manufacturers to use bio-mas run boilers (mainly wheat straw, kai grass and bagasse) to drain extra moisture from the paper. The leather industry requires both electricity and steam. Punjab-based firms are using diesel-run generators as a back-up for electricity.
Sugar mills in the country are using captive power generated from bagasse. In the cement sector, which is most energy-intensive within LSM, production requires various fuels including pulverised coal or coke, natural gas, lignite and fuel oil, the SBP said in its report, but added: “However, in Pakistan almost all cement manufacturers shifted from natural gas to coal in early 2000s, which means this sector was largely immune to the worsening energy shortages in the country.”
The fertilizer sector has no alternative but to use natural gas as the principal raw material (feedstock) in production process, the bank stated and admitted that due to inadequate supply of gas, fertilizer production had declined in the previous two years and demand-supply gap had to be bridged with imports.
Although the energy crisis is over, but this has been accomplished at a cost, LNG is almost twice the industrial cost of gas from domestic sources, there are moves to increase gas tariffs by about 46% . The above response that resulted due to acute energy shortages will be revived again as energy costs are forced to be increased, industry needs to have a serious and long term look at bio mass energy projects .
 The last winter (2017) smog situation left Lahore in a choking haze, but even in the past environmental experts and activists have been vocal about air pollution issue. Now NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has pointed out that burning of crop stubbles may be a major reason for a smog blanket in New Delhi, and also in Lahore, as the map shows several places in West Punjab that have thermal emissions.
Both East and West Punjab have two growing seasons — one from May to September and the other from November to April. In May and November, Punjab farmers typically sow crops and vegetables for the next season; but before sowing, they often set fire to fields to clear stubbles of previous crop and make them suitable for next sowing.  
“While burning is a major problem... I don’t believe this is the reason why the smog has seen a spike this year,” says environmentalist Aleem Butt. “Action should definitely be taken for burning crop stubbles, but in the meantime we are being invaded by noxious gases from coal power plants. Another very big cause which is being ignored is the high level of deforestation this year. 
As for an alternative method for crop stubble burning, the best method is to plough the stalks back into the earth where they can decompose into humus. Environmentalist and researcher Noman Ashraf says that labs of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are not operational, and without any empirical evidence, there can hardly be any crackdown on factories and other offenders.
“There are third-party labs which are doing this work, but the EPA has not bothered to renew their collaborative licences with them either,” he says. According to him, the Air Quality Index monitors were installed at five points during the last decade, but because the instruments were not calibrated they eventually became useless. “If we look at China and India, they at least have figures to go by,” says Mr Ashraf. “If the EPA claims to have regular readings then, under the public’s right to know, these figures should be uploaded on a website or publicised through media.”
EPA argues that it has state-of-the-art labs and regular readings. “We only had one purchasing issue... otherwise all our equipment is working just fine,” says an official of the EPA. Now with air pollution levels high enough to cause concern, EPA has worked out readings of between November 2 and 4. And these reveal some startling figures.
For example, nitric oxide should not be more than 40mcg per cubic metre but during this period Mall Road saw over 306mcg/cubic metre, and Mohlanwal (near Bahria Town) 332mcg/cubic metre. Particles less than 2.5µm (micrometres) are called PM2.5. They are approximately 1/30th the average width of a human hair. The benchmark for PM2.5 should be 35mcg/cubic metre, but none of the figures recorded during the period fell within this range. Readings were similar for PM10, whose levels should have been below 150, but were recorded to be higher in Shahdara area (264). However in other places levels were below 150.
Sulphur dioxide, which should be well below 120mcg per cubic metre, was seen highest in Mominpura, an appalling 1,373mcg per cubic metre. The carbon monoxide levels, which should have been below 5msg/cubic metre, were recorded at 21mcg/ cubic metre on Mall Road, and 17mcg/cubic metre at Mohlanwal, while at other places the levels were slightly higher than 5.
  The issue of crop stubble burning may have been misinterpreted. “This is nothing new in the region and has been happening for decades. But this recent spike is because farmers in East Punjab, who had originally been selling their wheat stalks for biomass plants, burnt their agri-waste this year after their requested price was turned down by the biomass plants.”
A sharecropper farmer of Okara area says that seeds and other agriculture inputs are so costly nowadays that it is inconceivable to buy more land only in order to plough the stalks back in the ground. “Burning is much more convenient for us.”
Naseemur Rehman Shah, a spokesperson for EPA, says his department has urged the agriculture department to take notice of the problem, but no action has so far been taken.
He too doesn’t agree with the view that crop burning is the major reason behind the smog. “Climatic change is happening at a global level, and every region is affected. Smog or fog that used to come later in the year has happened earlier this time.”
But when asked about the trees cut down in Lahore because of various development projects, Rehman says the EPA did not disallow it because that was the last resort. “The government has announced that for every public sector project one per cent of the total cost has to go into tree plantation,” he says.
He adds that even corridors like the Motorway are having trees planted along them. “Sometimes tree cutting has been allowed because it was the need of the day,” he says.
There are also other factors contributing to air pollution and one of these is factories, he says. “While crop stubble burning is a serious issue, most of the fumes are coming from East Punjab; but at the same time from within Lahore, we have factories that cannot use natural gas and therefore burn all kinds of materials including rubber to create fuel.”
He says that around 300 units have been shut down by the Punjab government in the recent past and these include large- and small-scale industries. Regarding air pollution, Rehman says that currently there are about 3,000 cases under trial in environment tribunals from all over Punjab. But apart from industries, there is the huge issue of traffic as well.
Rehman says that traffic congestion, bad roads, increasing number of vehicles, old vehicles with bad engines, and banned vehicles were main causes and many were still operating. The two-stroke auto and cycle rickshaws both are seen running despite being banned.
“We are fully aware of the situation and the ban is being implemented slowly. After all changes cannot happen overnight. A decade ago we were worried about how the air pollution issue was being neglected but by introducing alternative transport projects like the Orange Line... the government is moving in the right direction.”
“These projects are most environment-friendly,” says Rehman. “Orange Line will run on electricity, new LTC buses will use CNG and other Euro 2 and 3 standard buses will use good quality diesel.”