The Punjab Government on Friday said a private company adopting Chinese technology will set up two power projects of 22 mw each in the state using paddy straw as fuel.

This is in line with state's plans to harness 1,000 mw of power using paddy straw.

This was stated by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has recently returned from China after leading a delegation to study Chinese technology in renewable power generation.

These two biomass plants, entailing an outlay of Rs 110 crore, would be set up in Malerkotla in Ludhiana and Patti in Amritsar by private player TPS Turbo.

“Chinese company (DP Cleantech) will provide technical know-how for setting up a power plant in Punjab which will use 100 per cent paddy straw as fuel,” Mr Badal told a press conference.

He said there was a huge potential for generating power from agricultural residue.

The present technology allows use of just 20 per cent of total fuel as paddy straw while 80 per cent is wood, cotton stalk, mustard stalk etc. Punjab produces 20 to 22 lakh tonne of paddy straw annually which can be used as fuel in generating power.“Once a farmer starts getting good amount of money from selling paddy straw, he will not burn it, which is dangerous for the environment,” Mr Badal said.

He said farmers could earn an additional Rs 7,000 to 10,000 per acre from selling paddy straw.

The per unit cost of power generated from a paddy straw-run plant would work out to Rs 4.50 per unit while the state power utility would buy power at Rs 5 a unit.

Mr Badal said the state would also employ Chinese micro hydro technology in canal and river to harness 400 mw of energy potential.

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