Unit IV

MicroHydel and Biomass Energy

UNIT: IV (Microhydel & Bio-mass Energy Systems)
Operating principle, Components of a microhydel
power plant, Types and characteristics of turbines,
Selection and modification, Load balancing.
Operating principle of biomass, Combustion and
fermentation, anaerobic digester, Wood gassifier,
Pyrolysis, application in combustion engine,
stand-alone plants.
MicroHydel Power Plants
Introduction
Introduction
MNRE
⚫ Hydro power projects are classified as large and small hydro projects based on their
sizes. Different countries have different size criteria to classify small hydro power
project capacity ranging from 10MW to 50 MW. In India, hydro power plants of
25MW or below capacity are classified as small hydro, which have further been
classified into micro (100kW or below), mini (101kW-2MW) and small hydro
(2-25MW) segments. Hydro Power was being looked after by Ministry of Power
prior to 1989 mainly with the help of State Electricity Boards. In 1989, plant
capacity up to 3MW and below was transferred to the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE) and as such 63 MW aggregate installed capacity of
3MW and below hydro projects came within the jurisdiction of MNRE. Many
initiatives were taken by the Ministry since then for the promotion of small hydro
which included implementation of a UNDP-GEF assisted Technical Assistance
project entitled “Optimizing Development of Small Hydro Resources in Hilly
Regions of India” and India-Renewable Resources Development Project with IDA
credit line having interalia small hydro development component with target of
100MW canal based small hydro power projects through private sector
participation. Subsequently plant capacity up to 25MW and below was entrusted
with the MNRE in November 1999.
⚫ The estimated potential of 21135.37 MW from 7135 sites for power
generation in the country from small / mini hydel projects is assessed by the
Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) of IIT Roorkee in its Small Hydro
Database of July 2016. The hilly States of India mainly Arunachal Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, and constitute
around half of this potential. Other potential States are Maharashtra,
Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Kerala. Focused attention is given towards
these States through close interaction, monitoring of projects and reviewing
policy environment to attract private sector investments.The statewise
location of identified SHP sites are given - Andhra Pradesh , Arunachal
Pradesh , Assam , Bihar ,Chhattisgarh , Goa , Gujarat , Haryana , Him
achal Pradesh , Jammu &
Kashmir , Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Madhya
Pradesh , Maharashtra , Manipur ,Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland ,
Orissa , Punjab , Rajasthan , Sikkim , Tamil Nadu , Tripura , Uttar
Pradesh , Uttarakhand , West Bengal
⚫ The Ministry has taken a series of steps to promote
development of SHP in a planned manner and improve
reliability & quality of the projects. By giving various physical
and financial incentives, investments have been attracted in
commercial SHP projects apart from subsidizing State
Governments to set up small hydro projects. The Ministry is
also giving special emphasis to promote use of new and
efficient designs of water mills for mechanical as well as
electricity generation and setting up of micro hydel projects up
to 100 KW for remote village electrification. These projects are
taken up with the involvement of local organizations such as
the Water Mills Associations, cooperative societies, registered
NGOs, village energy cooperatives, and State Nodal Agencies.
Micro Hydro Plant capacity in India
Energy Conversion
Operating Principle
Construction
Benefits of Micro Hydro Power
Plants
Shortcomings of Micro Hydro
Power Plants
Application: Use of Micro Hydro
Power Plants
Types of Turbines
Impulse Turbine and Reaction
Turbine
Comparison
Impulse Turbine
Pelton
Multi Jet Pelton
Turgo
Cross flow
Reaction Turbines
Francis and Kaplan
Kaplan
Comparison
Comparison
Comparison
⚫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BLOKEZ3KU
Information on sites and disasters
⚫ https://sandrp.in/tag/small-hydro/
Pumped Hydro Energy Storage
⚫ Centralized synchronous plants will be less dominant in
the future energy mix and with the massive penetration of
intermittent renewables such as wind and solar and their
impact on the grid reliability is huge. Supply of energy is
variable and services to maintain voltage or frequency of
the grid cannot be met by inverter-based resources.
⚫ Hydropower can play a defining role in the energy
transition thanks to the balancing and system services to
the grid that facilitate the integration of variable
renewables.
⚫ With higher needs for storage and grid support services, Pumped
Hydro Storage is the natural large-scale energy storage solution. It
provides all services from reactive power support to frequency
control, synchronous or virtual inertia and black-start capabilities. It
brings support that was previously managed by fossil-fueled power
plants but with even more reactivity and in a sustainable manner
without CO2 emissions.
⚫ For years, Pumped Hydro Storage has offered a cost-effective way to
provide reliable large-scale balancing and grid services. New
pumped hydro storage technologies—such as variable speed
capability—give plant owners even more flexibility by providing
grid frequency support in both directions (in turbine and pump
modes) as well as quicker response times.
⚫ The high inertia of rotating machines can also stabilize the
grid in case of disturbances, which influences grid
frequency, enabling low-inertia renewable energies, such
as wind and solar to enter the grid and allowing their
power to be transmitted over great distances.
Hydro storage technology is an enabler for the transition
and modernization of 21st century power generation. It
provides production, storage and grid stabilization.
Moreover, it brings a critical benefit that distinguishes it
from the others—water management.
PHES
How does Pumped Hydro Storage
work?
⚫ Pumped hydro storage plants store energy using a system of two
interconnected reservoirs with one at a higher elevation than the
other. Water is pumped to the upper reservoir in times of surplus
energy and, in times of excess demand, water from the upper
reservoir is released, generating electricity as the water passes
through reversible Francis turbines on its way to the lower reservoir.
The process is then repeated with an overall cycle efficiency of about
80%.
⚫ With fixed speed pumped storage plants, power regulation is
possible while the plant is generating electricity but with the
state-of-the-art variable speed technology, power regulation in
specific ranges is possible while generating and while pumping,
providing additional flexibility to support the grid stability.
Benefits of pumped storage plants
⚫ https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/hydro-power/hydro
-pumped-storage
Variable Speed Hydro Pumps
(Synchronous machine)
Variable Speed Hydro Pumps (Doubly Fed
Asynchronous machine)
Hydro Power plant model
Biomass
⚫ The vegetable material is produced as a result of the process of
photosynthesis, which thanks to the energy of sun can transform
simple minerals into complex organic molecules. The
plant biomass absorbs CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere
during its growth, and it returns it during combustion. Therefore, the
CO2 balance of these processes is zero, so it does not contribute to
the greenhouse effect. Any material that has an organic matrix, like
municipal waste, can be defined as biomass. For this reason we
prefer to talk about “plant biomass”, limiting its origin to the plant
world. The plant biomass energy is transformed by three processes,
which can be grouped into three major groups:
⚫ thermo-chemical
⚫ biological
⚫ physical
Market overview
⚫ The Government of India has set an ambitious target of 175
GW renewable power installed capacity by the end of 2022,
therefore making it one of the most progressive renewable
energy policies in the world. This target aims to install a total
of 10 GW worth of Bioenergy capacity. India’s Bioenergy
potential is tremendously high and driven largely by
overpopulation and vast agricultural pastures. Experts estimate
peg this at a total of 25 GW. India is one of the biggest
economies with a growing population, big capacities of field
and plantation biomass, industrial biomass, forest biomass,
urban waste biomass and aquatic biomass.
⚫ In addition, the demand for electricity is growing every year
due to economic growth, increasing prosperity and
urbanization, rise in per capita consumption and massive rural
electrification infrastructure. Another critical factor to consider
is that India is highly dependent on crude oil imports, with an
approximately 82 percent of total crude oil imports used to
fulfil the domestic consumption demand, which makes this
susceptible to price shocks due unforeseen escalations in crude
oil prices. Therefore it seems to be only logical to combine the
potential in Bioenergy as a cheaper, greener source of power,
with the increasing demand for electricity across the country.
⚫ Bioenergy so far is especially prominent in rural India
since agricultural residues such as straw and cow dung are
easily available. As per the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (“MNRE”), about 32 percent of the
total primary energy use in the country is derived from
biomass and more than 70 percent of the country’s
population, in one way or the other, depends upon it for
their energy needs in the rural regions.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS FACED
BY INDIA?
⚫ The Indian Government does realize Bioenergy’s potential as a cheap
renewable source of energy and has initiated a number of programmes for
the promotion of efficient biomass conversion technologies. Nevertheless,
in the current scenario, bioenergy remains an under-explored and
under-utilized sector.

⚫ Generic barriers, mostly institutional, technical and financial manner, made

it difficult for India to develop a Bioenergy footprint. The initial investment
required for Bioenergy technology is high. This along with the fact that
Indian Government follows long and complex licensing requirements and
environmental pollution standards, make it in general difficult for new
competitors to enter the market. Additionally, one problem regarding
biomass from agriculture is that it is usually just available for a short period
after harvesting. Therefore market mechanisms have to be developed for
procurement and safe storage of biomass in an efficient way, which ensures
a solid supply throughout the year.
⚫ The Indian Government realizes this and is working on necessary
changes to achieve their target. For this the Indian Government has
released, amongst other things, the “National Policy on Biofuels,
2018”. It anticipates that biofuel may be one of the ways towards
independence from crude oil, its unpredictable price escalations and
as a means to tightening automotive vehicle emission standard to
curb air pollution. Adopting biofuels as an alternative source of
energy shall significantly improve farmers’ income, generate
employment opportunities, reduce imports etc. as well as align the
country towards a more greener energy goal.
⚫ MNRE has set an indicative target of 20 percent blending of ethanol
in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel to be achieved by
2030. The focus for development of biofuels in India shall be to
utilize waste, degraded forest and non-forest lands and cultivation of
shrubs and trees bearing non-edible oil seeds for production of
bio-diesel. In India, bio-ethanol is mainly produced from molasses, a
by-product of the sugar industry.
Recent Developments, Expansions, Acquisitions,
and New Contracts in India Biomass Market
⚫ In January 2020, BIOD ENERGY (INDIA) PVT LTD.
announced plans to set up two biodiesel manufacturing
facilities in Haryana and Dubai and open up to 30 biodiesel
pumps in North India. The opening of new facilities is
estimated to allow the company to increase its market
presence.
⚫ In October 2019, Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the largest CNG
distribution company in India, announced plans to open a
paddy straw-into-biogas conversion plant at Karnal in Haryana.
The biogas can be used as CNG in automobiles. The plant is
expected to convert stubble generated from 20,000 acres of
farmland in a year into gas. The manufacturing facility is
projected to be operational by 2022.
Biomass for electricity generation
Future Growth

⚫ The recent 450 GW of renewable energy capacity, likely

by 2030, signals a huge increase in ambition. It is over
five times of India’s current renewable capacity (82.5
GW) and more than India’s total installed electricity
capacity from all sources (362 GW). Prime Minister
Modi’s announcement is also consistent with statements
made by senior government officials indicating higher
renewable energy targets.
⚫ Government reports are also charting future clean energy
growth. The Central Electricity Authority
(CEA)’s National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2018 had already
projected a higher share of renewables (44%) compared to
coal (38%) in 2027. CEA’s draft report on Optimal
Generation Capacity Mix for 2029-30 finds that if the 450
GW of renewables target is met, renewable energy will for
54%—over half—of India’s installed electricity capacity
in 2030. Whereas total non-fossil fuel (which includes
large hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, and biomass) will have a
65% share—this is 25% more that India’s commitment in
Paris.
Thank You