Can help make villages self sufficient in its power needs
Using a unique blend of technologies of the
non-conventional energy sector, a Punjab engineer has
developed a
concept and designs of a micro hybrid power plant (MHPP), which could
not only make a village self sufficient in its power needs but provide
organic manure and run cold storages.
Talking to
The Hindu
, Bulwant Singh Brar, who retired from the Punjab Mandi Board, said he
had the patents and trademark for the mathematical formula he had worked
out to set up a MHPP of 250 kilowatt through a combination of solar
power, bio-gas and bio-mass technologies to produce electricity. Each
plant can be set up on a 2.5 acre plot of land with an investment of
approximately Rs. 3 crore and provide employment to about 20 persons,
while the per unit cost of power generation would average around Rs.
4.29.
Following his meetings at different levels, Mr.
Brar said the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology had agreed
to provide up to 80 per cent of the funds required to set up pilot
plants, if a relevant proposal was processed and recommended by the
respective State governments, some of which have initiated the procedure
to identify at least one spot in every district.
Mr.
Brar said one MHPP could come up in just six months as compared to the
years spent on constructing the conventional thermal plants. A village
with about 3,000 cattle head could provide 27 tonnes of cow dung to
produce biogas, three tonnes of farm residue like paddy husk, straw or
cotton stalks as bio-mass raw material for such a plant. Coupled with
the solar power that would be generated on the plant’s rooftop, the
village could be assured of 24 hours power supply, for domestic use.
Daily, the plant would produce around 2.7 tonnes of compost and about 15
quintals of ash, whose management or storage was a viable proposition.
Mr.
Brar said these non-conventional energy sources set up singularly
failed as alternate providers of power due to flaws in the design,
availability of raw material and disposal of waste. A 250 KW biogas
power plant alone required 2 to 2.50 acres of land, an investment of Rs.
3 crore and manpower of up to 25 persons. It required 80 tonnes of cow
dung as raw material and produced 8 tonnes of compost. The raw material
could be collected from eight to 10 thousand cattle head, spread over
three to four villages. The collection of raw material and disposal of
compost added to the cost of operation, where the average per unit cost
of generation worked to be around Rs. 6. Similar was the case in power
plants based on bio-mass alone which produce 50 quintals of ash daily,
while due to availability of sunlight the cost of per unit cost of
generation at a separate solar plant worked to nearly Rs. 10.
The
steam generated from these MHPP would be utilised in running cold
storage and milk chilling plants at no extra cost. Mr. Brar said the
mixture of compost and ash used as manure would reduce the cost of farm
inputs.
The Centre’s Department of Science and Technology had agreed to provide up to 80 per cent of the funds: Brar
“Non-conventional energy sources set up singularly failed as alternate power providers due to flaws in the design”
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