A PROJECT REPORT ON

Study of Biomass IPP in Chhattisgarh

SUBMITTED TO RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES,BANGALORE BY

MAYURESH M GANU Roll No. P1017

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF POST GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MANAGEMENT (PGPM) Marketing 2010-12 RAMAIAH INSITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES BANGALORE

Table of Contents
Chapter No. Title Declaration from student Certificate from Company/Organization Certificate from Guide Acknowledgement List of Tables List of Graphs List of Charts List if Abbreviations, if any Executive Summary Introduction Company profile Objectives of the study Limitations of Study Research Methodology Primary data - if applicable Secondary data if applicable Sample design if applicable Population if applicable Sample size if applicable Sampling method if applicable Method of data collection - if applicable Instrument for data collection - if applicable Theoretical Background as applicable to the Project. Data- analysis techniques Data Processing and Analysis Management Lessons Findings Recommendations Conclusions Page No. Iii Iv V Vi Vii Viii Ix X Xi Approx No. of Pages. 5 10

I 1.1 1.2 1.3 II 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 III 3.1 IV V VI VII VIII

Approx No. of Pages. 0710

Approx No. of Pages. 1015 Approx No. of Pages. 2025 Approx No. of Pages. 0510 Approx No. of Pages. 0203 Approx No. of Pages. 0102 Approx No. of Pages. 0102

Bibliography Appendices / Annexure

DECLARATION

I, Mr. Mayuresh M Ganu

hereby declare that this project report is the record of an authentic work carried out by me during the period from 18th April to 6th June 2011 and has not been submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of any degree/diploma etc.

Mr. Mayuresh Ganu

Date- 6th June

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me great pleasure in presenting this project report after successfully completing my summer training as a part of curriculum at Thermax Ltd. I take this opportunity to express heartfelt gratitude towards the management of the company.

I am thankful to Mr. Vivek Taneja (Head-Business Development) for giving me an opportunity to work in this esteemed organization. I would also like to thank Miss. Tania Biswas for giving us the support and guidance in helping us complete our project successfully in the stipulated time.

I would also like to thank Prof. Dr.Radha for her immense support she has given me being my project guide who helped in the formalities which were necessary to us during the completion of the project.

Mayuresh M Ganu PGPM-Marketing

Executive Summary

The title of my project is Market Research for Independent Power Plants which use biomass as their fuel in Chhattisgarh. As Chhattisgarh is a hub for rice mills and biomass is available in plenty which could be used effectively in burning and using it as a major fuel for the power plants and generate electricity which can be distributed to homes and industries so that they can use it for their core business. The power plants operate with different equipments assembled to form one big unit to produce electricity. The parts include a boiler, turbine, economizer, cooling tower, DM plant etc. The fuel is fed in the boiler by a conveyer belt. Mainly the fuel used at the plants in Chhattisgarh is Rice Husk. Because the region is surrounded by rice fields, the availability of rice husk is abundant and so there is not much concern with the availability of the required fuel. The local farmers and biomass suppliers get into an agreement with the company and supply them the required amount of fuel on daily, weekly or monthly basis. The power plants operate almost without any break. The power plants are shutdown for a month or even less in a year. Due to the efficiency of the equipments there are not many issues in the deterioration of the machinery. Thermax is one of the leaders in providing equipments and O&M services to the clients. Thermax is positively looking to expand its customer base and increasing its horizon by conducting different surveys and market research activities so as to mould itself with the changing scenario of the Business world in and across India. The task to be done was to get in touch with the companies who have power plants operating in Chhattisgarh and conduct a market research for Thermax about the fuel used by the power plants, technical details of the machinery and equipment they use, overall performance of the plant and whether they are satisfied with the performance of the entire setup. The task involved a lot of travelling to different places in Chhattisgarh. It also required meeting and interacting with a lot of people which required a lot of confidence and patience. Further in the report are the findings and recommendations that have been made after the completion of the project. To go ahead with the study, the only medium was to use the internet. From which the contact details, addresses and the locations of the power plants could be found which helped us to get in touch with the concerned people to visit the plants personally and extract the required information and inputs for the company.

Introduction

COMPANY PROFILE

THERMAX LIMITED
THERMAX LTD. is a Rs. 33,032 million multi divisional, multi product company operating primarily in Energy, Environment and Exports. Thermax is a publicly listed company on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as well as Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and is actively traded on the markets. Known for its corporate governance practices in the corporate circles, the group is professionally managed with an executive council reporting to the Board of Directors.

Thermax limited is an Indian based engineering multinational with its subsidiaries and offices spread over 25 locations and 16 countries across the globe. It is a global solution provider in energy and environment engineering. A zero debt company, brand Thermax has a market capitalization of over 1 billion USD in financial year 2010-11. As shown in the graph, the invoicing & profit figures have had a robust growth in the past with the current profit figures having being Rs.4303 million. Thermax offers products and services in heating, cooling, waste heat recovery, captive power, water treatment and recycling, waste management including effluent treatment plants, performance and specially chemicals.

Thermax brings its rich experience gained from customer engagements around the world. Through technology partnership and strategic alliances, it provides superior value to help industry perform efficiently and profitably. With a dedicated sales & service network spread over South East Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia, India, UK and the US, Thermax ensures innovative solutions and reliable support for clients business improvement. Thermax has a strong team of well qualified over 3500 employees of which around 2100 are qualified and certified engineers. Thermax has a well-knit net work of four regional offices, seven area offices and numerous channel partners all over India to serve our domestic clients. Thermax Vision:

To be a globally respected high performance organization offering sustainable solutions in energy and environment.

BUSINESS DIVISIONS

 POWER The division specializes in system design and EPC implementation as required for Captive/ Cogen Power Plants. Apart from undertaking projects on a turnkey basis, the Power Division also has its O&M department. y Thermax having over 11000 GWh of energy generation experience. y Over 900000 hours of operational experience. y Integrated turnkey solutions. y Over 926MW commissioned & over 1100MW under execution and final commissioning.

BOILERS & HEATERS (B&H)

The division is involved in various process and utility boilers. Some of the salient the division are as follows: y The tie-up for technology- Babcock & Wilcox, USA

features of

y Accreditations ISO 9001-2000, ASME S,U,& H stamp, NBBI R certification, Manufacture License of Special Equipment peoples Republic of China A- Boilers, D1, D2Pressure Vessels, ISO 14001, OSHAS 18001.

 COOLING & HEATING DIVISION (C&H) This ISO 9001 division caters to the industrial and commercial demands of comfort cooling in the form of Chillers up to 1400TR (single machine) using Vapor Absorption technology. Both direct fuel fired and steam fired machines are available. These are manufactured in technical collaboration with Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan. The heating group has a wide range of offerings on more than 140 fuels with major thrust on offering combustion solutions for locally available biomass fuels & oil/gas. It offers varied solutions for heating like boilers, hot water generators and Thermal Fluid Heaters. The group has also introduced power saving hot water generators for hotels & hospitals and small boilers fired on heavy oils, saving substantially on fuel costs.

 ENVIRO This division caters to total Solution in Air Pollution Control. The systems offered are: y High efficiency Cyclones, Multicylones & spray Cyclones. y Baghouses Reverse air, Pulse Jet & Insertables. y Electrostatic Precipitators Dry & wet. y Particulate Scrubbers Venturi, Cyclonic, Impingement Plate. y Gaseous Scrubbers Packed Bed, Spray / Tray Towers. y Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) system. y Ammonia Flue Gas Conditioning System. y Dedusting & fume extraction system. y Coal preparation Plant & Coal Injection Systems.

 WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS (WWS) WWS design and manufacturers water treatment plants on turnkey basis for a variety of industrial and power application. Many power projects with capacities ranging from 50 MW to 500MW set up by NTPC and state electricity boards are equipped with our water treatment plants. The solutions offered are y Raw water clarification / pretreatment. y Water softening & filtration. y Demineralization. y Reverse osmosis. y Condensate polishing. y Tertiary Treatment. y Effluent Treatment. y Sewage Treatment. y Waste water recycling. y Solids & pathological waste incineration. y Chemical incineration. y Chemical recovery systems.

 CHEMICAL DIVISION The division manufactures Ion-exchange resins, Oil well chemicals, Cooling water chemicals and Polyelectrolytes for process industries.

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Objectives of the study

OVERVIEW OF BIOMASS POWER SECTOR IN INDIA: OVERVIEW:
y The total installed capacity of power plant in India is 1,73,626.40 MW but we are facing a power deficit of around 10%. The per capita power consumption is 665kWh and this figure is steadily increasing. y To meet this increasing demand and reduce the current peak shortage, the Government has planned to double the existing capacity to 3,00,000MW over the next decade(2010-20). y Biomass Power Scenario India has a biomass availability of 150 million MT per annum which gives us a potential to install 16,000MW of biomass based power plants. To release this huge potential, we need an investment of Rs.1,00,000 crore. y Some reasons for lack of investments in Biomass sector are: It costs around Rs.6 Crs/MW for a Biomass plant whereas a thermal plant requires only about Rs.4.5 Crs/MW. Availability of Biomass fuel with high calorific value (>2500kcal/kg). y Biomass based power generation is a choice of reality under the geographical regions where a sustainability exists in the flow of biologically raw materials for the production of power and India is one of the most notable universal giants for the production of biomass based power which can be best understood from the estimates of its biomass availability and the power produced from it. y India has biomass production of 546 million tonnes per year from the agricultural sources alone to generate electricity at a capacity of 17,982 MW and its overall production of power from renewable sources stands at 34961 MWe in 2010. y The development of biomass based power is further enhanced by the Government regulatory policies by declaring duty exemptions, tax breaks and financial incentives etc. The cost of producing electricity from biomass is affordable at Rs: 2.25-3.25 / kWh. In spite of all these attempts biomass based power generation is at its infant stage because of hindering factors such as feedstock availability, transportation, price volatility etc. y India to emerge as a role model must utilize its renewable energy sources to a large extent, develop dedicated energy crops, establish end user market for co-products such as charcoal, biochar, activated carbon, and implement energy efficient technology for economically feasible power generation on a massive scale.

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Source - Wikipedia

Some of the state Feed in tariffs FEED IN TARIFF(Rs./kWH) Rs.3.59 Rs.4.22 Rs.4.12 Rs.4.22 Rs.4.39 Rs.4.75 Rs.4.09
Source-http://www.icra.in

Sr.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

STATE Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Maharashtra Chhattisgarh Tamil Nadu Punjab Rajasthan

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The tariff regulations for renewable were announced by the CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission) in September 2009. Table shows the levellised tariff indicators as stated in the tariff order issued in November 2010 and applicable for projects to be commissioned during FY 2011-12.

Promotional Incentives

1. Accelerated Depreciation 80% in first year (Boiler and Turbine). 2. Income Tax Holiday under Section 80 1A for 10 years. 3. Concessional import duty; excise duty exemptions on equipments components required for initial setting of the project. 4. Sales tax exemption in some states. 5. IREDA provides loans for biomass power projects. 6. Preferential Tariff in 14 States.

FUEL SCENARIO:

Main source of Biomass is Agriculture, and in agriculture all crop are depend on atmospheric condition means seasons. For agriculture there mainly two type of seasons and as per that crops are divided. They are as follows :

Season Information Season Kharif Rabi Perennial Harvesting Period From Month of July to December From Month of January to June Throughout the Year

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As per seasons crops are distributed as follow:

Season Sl. No. Kharif & Rabi Kharif Rabi Long Term Crops

Either season (July to Dec. (January to or both 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Arhar Bajra Banana Black Pepper Cotton Dry Ginger Fodder Crop Fruit crop Gram Groundnut Horse Gram Jowar Kesar Linseed Masoor Moong Maize Mustard Nigerseed Oil seeds Paddy Peas + beans Potato Small millets Sugarcane Sunflower Tapioca Til Tobacco Turmeric only) Avare Barseem Castor Seed Coriander Cow Gram Dry Chilly Garlic Guar Kodo Millets Korra Meshta Minor Crops Moth Onion Other Pulses Potato Ragi Rice Sawan Soyabean Sweet Potato June only) Barley Coriander Cow Gram Dry Chilly Isabgol Kesar Kulthi Oilseeds Paddy Potato Pulses Ragi Rice Teora Wheat Areca nut Cardamom Cashew nut Coconut Coffee Eucalyptus Mango Rubber

Cumin Seed Casurina

Other Cereals Samai

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Main fuel in Chhattisgarh :

Name Of Fuel

GCV (kcal/kg) 3150 3200 3100 2800 3210 3500 3622

Fuel Consumption for 10 MW (TPH) 11.65 11.47 11.84 13.11 11.44 10.2 10.13
SOURCE: DIRECTOR,CREDA

Rice Husk Wood (30% moisture) Paddy Husk Bagasse (40% moisture) Cotton Stalk Maize Stalk Mustard Husk

NATIONAL POLICY FOR GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY :  Any generating company may establish, operate and maintain a generating station without obtaining a license under Electricity Act-2003 if it complies with the technical standards relating to connectivity with a grid referred to in clause (b) of section 73.

 Duties of Generating Companies 1. Subject to the provision of 2003 act, the duties of generating company shall be to establish, operate and maintain generating stations, tie-lines, sub-stations and dedicated transmission lines connected therewith in accordance with the provision of this act or the rules or regulation made there under. 2. A generating company may supply electricity to any licensee in accordance with this Act and the rules and regulations made there under and may, subject to the regulations made under sub-section (2) of section42, supply electricity to any consumer.

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 Tariff Regulations (61): The Appropriate Commission shall, subject to the provisions of 2003 act, specify the terms and conditions for the determination of tariff, and in doing so, shall be guided by the following, namely: 1. The principles and methodologies specified by the Central Commission for determination of the tariff applicable to generating companies and transmission licensees; 2. The generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity are conducted on commercial principles; 3. The factors which would encourage competition, efficiency, economical use of the resources, good performance and optimum investments; 4. Safeguarding of consumers interest and at the same time, recovery of the cost of electricity in a reasonable manner; 5. The principle rewarding efficiency in performance; 6. Multiyear tariff principles; 7. That the tariff progressively reflects the cost of supply of electricity and also, reduces and eliminates cross-subsidies within the period to be specified by the appropriate Commission; 8. The promotion of co-generation and generation of electricity from renewable source of energy.

 Determination of Tariff (62): 1. The Appropriate Commission shall determine the tariff in accordance with provisions of this Act for: a) Supply of electricity by a generating company to a distribution licensee: Provided that the Appropriate Commission may, in case of shortage of supply of electricity, fix the minimum and maximum ceiling of tariff for sale or purchase of electricity in pursuance of an agreement, entered into between a generating company and a licensee or between licensees, for a period not exceeding one year to ensure reasonable prices of electricity; b) Transmission of electricity; c) Wheeling of electricity; d) Retail sale of electricity, provided that in case of distribution of electricity in the same area by two or more distribution licensees, the Appropriate Commission may, for promoting

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competition among distribution licensees, fix only maximum ceiling of tariff for retail sale of electricity. 2. The appropriate commission may required a licensee or a generating company to furnish separate details, as may be specified in respect of generation, transmission and distribution for determination of tariff. 3. The Appropriate Commission shall not, while determining the tariff under 2003 act, show under preference to any consumer of electricity but may differentiate according to the consumers load factor, power factor, voltage, total consumption of electricity during any specified period or the time at which the supply is required or the geographical position of any area, the nature of supply and the purpose for which the supply is required. 4. No tariff or part of any tariff may ordinarily be amended more frequently than once in any financial year, expect in respect of any changes expressly permitted under the terms of any fuel surcharge formula as may be specified. 5. The Commission may require a licenses or a generating company to company with such procedures as may be specified for calculating the expected revenues from the tariff and charges which he or it is permitted to recover. 6. If any licensee or a generating company recovers a price or charge exceeding the tariff determined under this section, the excess amount shall be recoverable by the persons who have paid such price or charge along with interest equivalent to the bank rate without prejudice to any other liability incurred by the licensee.

Limitations of the study

Every study has its own limitations. In my particular case the limitations began from finding secondary data the means provided to us by the company were internet, telephone and some contacts of our senior colleagues. The list provided to us by the company was some years old so the problem began when we started to find the contact details of the concerned people we wished to contact. After a lot of research we were able to get the contacts and now it was time to fix up the meeting and to arrange for a visit to the power plants. The problem got worse as we could not get access to visit all the plants because the power plants are high security zones and they would not allow any third party to visit the location. The toughest task was to convince them to permit us to visit the location when that was not possible we tried to convince to at least let us visit the Head Offices

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so that we could try to get some inputs from the Head Offices and then again persuade them to let us visit the location and get authentic information which would benefit the organization in the venture they had put us to. As we were travelling to a different state another barrier was communication (language) the language spoken was alien to us and as we went deeper and deeper into the region even conveyance become a major issue. Though the company made the best possible arrangements for our accommodation where ever possible but there always was a draw back in finding the pin point location to the exact address. Travelling day and night became a little frustrating at times but it all was felt worth if the meetings with the clients went successful.

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Chapter II

Research Methodology

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Research Design:
A research design is like the blue print of all the activities that are involved from the beginning of the research process till its completion, involving collection, measurement and analysis of data. The research program should be developed by being aware of the limitations so that unwanted conclusions can be avoided. All the conclusions should be based on accurate information and half knowledge on any topic is avoided. The conclusions should be backed with proper documentation.

Briefing of questionnaire:
A questionnaire was given which was supposed to be filled from the information obtained from the people at the respective power plants. The guide in the company explained the working of a power plant in detail and all the questions & the expected answers for the questions. As some colleagues were not from a technical background, there was a little difficulty in understanding the process and the questions related to the equipment. But as a few days passed the process and the technical terms became familiar.

Primary data:
Primary data is the first hand information which is received on site. The data which was gathered after personally visiting the location and the inputs by interacting with the staff at the plant is the primary data. By visiting the site or the head quarters of the clients attempt was made to get as much as information possible which would help in making the report and give appropriate idea to analyze the complete data and give recommendations.

Secondary data:
Secondary data was already provided by the company that is the name of the company, the location of the plant and the capacity of the power plant. After this initial help by the company, the contact details were found. The meetings were arranged with the concerned people to get vital inputs.

Sample design:
The sample design for this particular project was to target Independent Power Plants using Biomass as their fuel in Chhattisgarh state.

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Sample size: The population size was 38 power plants. Out of which, the company already had the information of 9 power plants and 14 power plants are Uncommissioned. Hence, the sample size for my project turned to be 15 power plants. I had to visit the 15 power plants located at different parts of Chhattisgarh.

Method of data collection: Data collection involved several methods  Questionnaire  Internet  Telephonic Conversations  Company contacts  Personal contacts  References  On site surveys

Field work: The field work was done in order to achieve the target of the market research. The region was chalked out and the field work required rigorous travelling to interiors of Chhattisgarh state and meeting expert people in the field of Energy.

Data analysis technique: The data that was gathered was kept in a hard as well as soft copy which was later used to draw graphs to support the theory with the help of using MS Excel. By use of these computer aided tools, it became very convenient to analyze the data that was gathered and mould it into useful information which would further benefit the company.

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Chapter III Theoretical back ground

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Theoretical Background of our Study

Market research is a systematic method to gather information about markets conditions or clients who are interested in a particular commodity. It is the most essential component of a market study. The term is promptly changed with market research. Expert people from the industry may wish to differ by saying that marketing research is concerned with the main fundamental of marketing processes, and market research is specifically related to markets. Market Research is one of the major factors to have a competitive advantage over your competitors. Market research provides gives in depth information to analyze and then give valuable inputs and recommendations that best suit the market condition at that particular time and also change accordingly. Market research is basically done to know exactly what people are looking for, what they believe in and what they seek from it. The complete information that is gathered can be analyzed and proper knowledge and very viable inputs can be implemented so that it leads to maximum profits to an organization. Discussions, questionnaires related to the study are some methods that can be implemented for market research. The selection of questions is also very important as it should not give any wrong idea or impression about the whole research that can bring the entire research to a standstill and will create a negative impression about the whole concept behind the research.

 Market information

A thorough knowledge of the market is required in this competitive world. If one is unaware of the changing world and what new trends and technologies your competitors are using or coming up with, then its a loss of time and money. If one doesnt change with the changing environment then there can be a lot of loss of opportunities. But being up-to-date with the advances will definitely lead to success and will help expansion of the business to a whole new level. Market information can be gained from a number of sources.

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 Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the division or segregation of the market with respect to geographic location, market conditions and people. Market segmentation is done to prioritize what exactly is the objective of the company which field it wants to enter, what sort of products they want to make, which place they want to set up their plant where all they want to sell their products and so on. All these things contribute towards market segmentation which helps gain in depth site of the market.  Market trends Trends show us the pattern of the market it could be upward or downward or stagnant. The market trends show us the exact situation of the market for a given period of time these trends lead to a particular pattern which may follow over a period of time this helps a researcher to study these patterns and predict what the future could be like and make necessary changes that would help the organization take precautionary measures so that any kind of losses as well as maximum advantage can be gained from a particular time. Some techniques are:
 Customer analysis  Choice modeling  Competitor research  Risk analysis  Product analysis

 Surveys A survey is a systematic representation of the data collected through the ways of interviews, conversations, questionnaires, or even information gathered through search engines. They can be quantitative as well as qualitative and aim at collecting information for the purpose of analysis. The larger the size of the population less is the scope of error smaller the population the more is the chance of error. Many organizations have surveys done for continuous assessment of their progress it also helps them to understand what exactly people are expecting out of their products and

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services. Companies even post their questionnaire on the internet so that people can fill them up and share their views and visions for the same.

ADVANTAGES OF SURVEYS

 Takes less time  Easily done via internet  Can be done over the telephone or can be faxed  Bulk surveys are no problem  The population can be sampled appropriately  Standard question are only asked to avoid ambiguity  A lot of information can be generated in a short period  Analysis becomes simpler

DISADVANTAGES OF SURVEYS

 Difficulty in collecting genuine information  Face to face interaction has a different impact  Sometimes not cost effective  Requires good analysts

CLARIFY THE PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY

The purpose of the survey must be clearly understood because the complete analysis will depend on this study. Any failure in the interpretation, then the purpose of the survey and the entire analysis can get distorted and it will be total failure. Similarly if you understand the whole idea behind the purpose you can excel in your task. If the information got is genuine and authentic then it becomes very simple to analyze the data and give the study the desired shape.

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WHAT DO YOU LEARN FROM THIS SURVEY?

 Reason for choosing this survey  What do you intend to learn  Results from your study  Maintaining your research questions  What you think about the survey  To the point  Emphasize on the need to know  Method selection  Surveys collect information not trying to sell anything  Opinions should be carefully noted  Thought process  Subject knowledge  Psychology  Grasp what is needed and let go of unwanted things  Patience  Professional etiquettes

Training Task Details Our training began on the 18th of April 2011. We were asked to report to office at 9a.m. We worked for the power division of Thermax India limited which dealt with the energy sector. We were told that we would be training with the Business development team and will be working on Power Plants. There we were given the technical knowledge on how a power plant works and what are the required things we need to know about the entire working and practical knowledge about power plants.

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Types of Power Plants

Power plants operate on  Solar  Nuclear  Thermal  Biomass  Wind  Tidal  Hydroelectric We were given the task of conducting market research for Power Plants which use biomass as their fuel. There are again different categories of power plants in them namely  Captive Power Plants  Co-generation Power Plants  Independent Power Plants Again from the above category we were asked to work on Independent Power Plants which.

What are Independent Power Plants?

An independent power plant is not a public entity its an entity which generates electricity for sale and distributes it to the end users. Independent power plants only produce electricity exclusively for the end users and do not use it for any other purpose except supplying it to the grid. Subsidies are given to the companies who want to setup such plants by the government because there is a shortage in the supply in the electricity grid from where the government further supplies it to the end users.

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Schematic Diagram of a Power Plant

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Main Parts of a Biomass Power Plant  Fuel storage  Fuel transportation to the boiler  Boiler  Ash system  Steam turbine  Cooling tower  Generator  Control equipment  D.M plant

Fuel storage

A huge storage area to store the fuel for daily requirement plus storage during shortage in the market of the fuel used by the company to run their plant is necessary. Every plant has a storage area in and around the plant so that the fuel can be fed in the boiler in regular intervals of time as required.

Fuel transportation to the boiler

It is known as a conveyer belt which carries the fuel from the storage area to the furnace of the boiler. The conveyer belt is a mechanical device which moves in a circular fashion to carry the fuel to its destination.

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating application, the pressure vessel in a boiler is usually made of steel. The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood, coal, Agro waste, Juli flora, natural gas.

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Ash handling System

Ash handling refers to the method of collection, conveying, interim storage and load out of various types of ash residue left over from solid fuel combustion process. The most common types of ash include bottom ash, bed ash, fly ash, and ash clinkers resulting from the combustion of coal, wood and other solid fuels, fly ash is generally captured by electrostatic precipitators or other particle filtration equipment before the flue gas reach the chimneys of the power plant.

Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into a rotator motion. It is particular suited to be used to drive an electric generator.

Cooling tower

Cooling tower are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely on air to cool.

Generator

As the turbine rotates due to the steam pressure the generator has rotors in it which also rotate at the same converting the kinetic energy into electrical energy. And then the electricity is supplied to the grid through transformers.

Control Equipment

Control equipment can be of two types one is the pollution control equipment and the other the controls to the machine that are used in the power plants. The additional equipments which are added also are controlled with the help of these equipments.

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D.M Plant

De materializing plants are often used to soften or de materialize the water which is used in the power plants, if the water contains minerals or salts in it can corrode the metal and destroy the equipment which is worth lakhs of rupees. Places which have hard water have to compulsorily employ de materializing plants to filter soften; reduce pH content in the water.

Region Allotted For Market Research

The region that was allotted was Chhattisgarh. There was list of Independent power plants from the CREDA (Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency) which had the list of power plants. The first task to accomplish was to find out the contact details of the companies, either the details of the plant location or the head offices. Most of the sites were located at far off distances in various districts in Chhattisgarh. Most the sites use rice husk as their main fuel because of abundant rice fields around the place. The availability of rice husk is so much that the power plants dont even store the fuel sometimes the local farmers get the rice husk to the location on daily basis. There were almost forty sites from which the information was to be gathered and fix up meetings to visit the location to conduct the survey. The distances were very vast and to complete those many site was a tough task.

Sorting and Filtering of Sites

Due to large population of the plants, sorting the location was important. Power plants had to be chalked out with respect to their capacity and then location wise. Majorly the sites to be visited had their head offices located at Raipur. Hence, the task of meeting people at the head offices was also done to get the required data.

Problems while setting up meetings

As the power plant is a high security zone usually nobody is entertained to visit the location directly and if we visited the head offices the exact information of the plant situated elsewhere is not got. Another problem was to convince them that the information provided by them will not be leaked.

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Problems faced while on tour

The main issue was to locate the pin point address of the office as well as the site. As most of the places were small village areas, finding them was very difficult. After reaching the location, the wait to meet the concerned person began and sometimes the person had even left before, so the meeting had to be postponed or rescheduled according to the convenience of the concerned person. Some people co-operated and some people just did not give time or proper information. Sometimes there was no authenticity to the information because it was hard to say whether the person giving the information is 100% sure of it.

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Data-Analysis Techniques

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Summary of Power Generation from Biomass in India India is primarily an agricultural nation with a wide variety of different types of seasonal crops including pulses, oil seeds, spices, fiber crops, cereals etc. with the endless supply of these crops and easy availability of the residual biomass power generation is economical and as well as easy to produce and distribute with the help of booming technology. Agricultural resources serve as an excellent applicant to power generation either by combustion or gasification. But these residuals emit biochemicals and moisture so a standardized procedure and limit to make appropriate dumping zones for them. According to the government over 60,000 villages are not connected to the grid, biomass here can play an important role in power generation for its easy availability in rural areas. A wide variety of feedstock can be employed with significant quantities. The main market segments for the biomass in India are small and medium industries, commercial sector and rural communities. Increasing biomass based power generation is being seen as a major replacement for diesel based backup/standby power. The problem faced by biomass power plants is the supply of biomass at lower prices. This is a very critical determinant to the success of biomass power plants. Due to this many power producers are entering into long term contracts, choosing proper location for their plants and also the capacity of the plants based on local availability of the resources.

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Progress of grid connected projects in India as in 2011

Fuel Total Thermal Coal Gas Oil Hydro (Renewable) Nuclear RES** (MNRE) Total

MW 112824.48 93,918.38 17,706.35 1,199.75 37,567.40 4,780.00 18,454.52 1,73,626.40

%age 64.98 54.09 10.2 0.69 21.64 2.75 10.63 100

Source - http://www.powermin.nic.in

[Renewable Energy Sources(RES) include SHP, BG, BP, U&I and Wind Energy, SHP= Small Hydro Project ,BG= Biomass Gasifier ,BP= Biomass Power,

These are the latest figures till 2011 of the progress of the projects connected to the grid and adding to the supply of electricity to distant villages of rural India. The source of information is Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Source (MNES). The government is also providing many subsidies to these power producers to fulfill the requirement of the shortage of electricity supply in India and also provide employment to the local population staying in and across rural vicinity. These efforts are being made from a long time and success is coming steadily.

Status of biomass power in Chhattisgarh

Potential 300MW Commissioned Projects 25 Status Potential exhausted

Source - Director,CREDA The above table clearly mentions that the potential of power generation from biomass is exhausted as of 2011. The CREDA is not giving any more approvals to the power plants that want to use rice husk for power generation.

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Power Generation Potential from Biomass in Chhattisgarh

According to the information from Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) the potential for Biomass in Chhattisgarh is 300MW. The chart below gives the district wise potential for generation of power from Biomass. Raipur and Durg display highest potential in all the districts and these two are the only districts which show more than 35 MW of potential.

Total Power Potential (in MW)

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 Mahasamund Rajnandgaon Dantewada Kabirdham Jagdalpur Dhamtari Jashpur Bilaspur Raigarh Sarguja Kanker Korba Durg Raipur Janjgir Koriya 0

Source Executive Engineer, CREDA We can see from the graph above that there are a lot of places that still need to be developed and have a lot of potential for growth and measures have been taken to develop the regions where there is scope for improvement and additional supply to the grid is possible. The state government has announced a scheme of providing a capital subsidy of Rs.25 lakhs per MW to excess supply to the grid. This is an encouragement to the parties to invest in the power from biomass.

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List of biomass power projects

The range of biomass power projects varies from 3 MW to 25 MW, most of the projects lie in the range of 5-15 MW.

Biomass Power Projects Already Commissioned

140 18 16 14 100

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Capacity in MW

12 80 10 8 6 40 4 20 2 0 <=5 MW >=5&10MW >10&15 MW >15 MW

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Source - CREDA

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No. of Projects

Potential for Power Generation from Rice Husk and Wood Chips(in%)

Rice husk is the single largest source of power generation from biomass in the state of Chhattisgarh. Woodchips provide the second largest source and the biomass residuals provide the rest of the source for power producers. The rice husk that is generated is an important energy source. The unit cost of electricity produced using rice husk is comparatively cheaper than diesel generated electricity. Because of cost efficiency the unit cost of electricity produced by rice husk is Rs.4.22/kW.

Percentage of Use 10% 15% Rice Husk Wood Chips Other

75%

Source Engineer,CREDA

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Initial Techniques and Approach Used by us for the Project

After doing the secondary research through the internet and using contacts from the company, the main task was to establish contact with the power producers from the list provided to us. Now the task was to get in touch with the right people who could help us to get permission to visit the power plant site which would facilitate our research. The initial strategy adopted by the company was to approach all the companies without using the companys name. This was done in order to check if the people were ok if students could visit sites as a part of the college curriculum and that there would no problem in the future. Some of the companies did entertain us but most of them did not give any response as they thought it was just a waste of time. After spending a lot of time and explaining it to people about the importance of the study, a few of the meetings got fixed at various locations in Chhattisgarh. The meetings that were fixed were negligible compared to the meetings being lost. It was frustrating at times because there was absolutely no response from most of the clients. There was a lot of pressure at times but the work had to be completed in the given time. Several mails were dropped to the various designated officers of all the companies in the hope for a positive response from them. But again there was just failure that came our way. After meeting the head of our company and our project guide and explaining the entire scenario what exactly was happening and what was going on and they guided how to approach people and talk to people in different organizations at different posts. We again tried with our level best with the valuable inputs from our guides to get in touch with the clients and carry on the research. This struggle to establish contact and get appointments to visit the plants continued. Again this was conveyed to the head at the office. This was high time and the company had to do something about it. The head told us to change our strategy and approach totally. Now the approach was to tell the customers about Thermax ltd. The liberty of using the companys started showing results. Again with a positive approach and the guidance of the mentors and, the work to establish contacts began.

Change of Strategy
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After the failure of the initial strategy, the switch-over to the second strategy took place immediately. Being given the liberty of using Thermax ltds name which would have a greater impact on the clients, mails with the name of Thermax were dropped and also the telephonic conversations were done with the same reference. After switching to the second strategy, there was a confident feeling as there were quite a few positive responses from the clients and meetings were lined up in the course of coming days. After all the appointments were fixed, it was time to enter into the field work and then the real physically strenuous work began. The task was to travel to Chhattisgarh all my clients were located there. The journey began from Pune to Raipur and then other parts of Raipur. After reaching the location again it was important to locate the pin point address of the plants. After reaching the site, task was to meet the site-in-charge who could provide with the details and specifications which was important as a part of the survey. Getting the information from them was a difficult task as dealing with the experts from the industry and who were very well versed with their in depth knowledge in the same field. Talking to the people in-charge of the plant gave us several inputs about their operation and also what problems they face while operating their power plants and what strategies they employ and how quickly they adjust to the changing situation and what remedies they apply to mitigate any problem in the short run. Maintaining such huge setups of power plants and the day-to-day requirement and is not an easy task; they have to undergo a lot of audits from the government as well as internal audits and inspections. Due to the burning of the fuel a lot of pollution is created and for this they have to maintain certain standard and procedures stated by the government and strictly follow them otherwise they can lose their license. All the things have to be in place at the right time. Even the ash that is formed has to be properly dumped or given away to ancillary industry to be used as an ingredient for their product. The energy sector has a very wide scope in the coming future. If all resources channelized properly the returns got from it can also be huge according to the information provided by the people who run power plants. Talking to the MDs and VPs of the companies was a good experience they co-operated pretty well and provided all possible help they could. It was also important to be constantly in touch with the heads of the companies who had their offices in other locations but guided us throughout our journey till we reached the location of their power plant. All the information gathered will be further analyzed by the Technical team of Thermax and used in the future for the expansion of their business.

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SWOT analysis Biomass power

Strengths :

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Decentralized: The central government has given the authority to the state government to control the entire functions related to the power plants in their respective areas which helps the power producers to change their strategies or tariffs that best suit their requirement based on the changing scenario. Self-reliance: Independent power plants do not depend on external sources for their auxiliary requirements and hence there is no problem of any kind of shortage of power for its functioning. Environmentally sound: Due to the use of a renewable resource for the generation of power, these power plants are environment friendly. These power plants use the waste that is generated by the agricultural farms hence they act as a cleaning agent for the farms too. Locally available fuel: The fuel used by the power plant generally includes rice husk, groundnut shell, coconut fronds, wheat husk etc and these are available locally from the farms surrounding the power plant vicinity. Hence, the transportation cost is also relatively cheaper. Potentially adequate to replace fossil fuelled energy conversion: Being locally available at cheaper rates and having a competitive calorific value in comparison with fossil fuel, biomass is considered to be the future replacement for fossil fuels in generation of electricity.

Weakness :

Replicability not yet proven (Low visibility): Lack of knowledge is to be blamed for the low replicability of the biomass based power plant. People are not yet aware of the fact that biomass could also generate as much electricity as that of fossil fuels at a relatively cheaper rates. The fact that hardly 7-8% power is biomass generated of the total power in India proves the low visibility. Capital cost may (claimed) be too high: Most of the biomass based power projects are of smaller capacity even though the fuel is found in abundance. They should try to increase the capacity of generation of power & install larger plants.

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Fuel dispersed: The location of the power plant is based on the availability of the fuel. The biomass is mostly available in some parts of India such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Chhattisgarh. Hence, the power plants have to be setup in the proximity of these areas.

Opportunities :
Costs are declining: The costs of the equipments are on the trend of declining due to the immense competition in the market. Due to the entrance of Chinese make equipments; the Indian manufacturers have been forced to keep a competitive price of their equipments. Gestation period low: The gestation period of the biomass based power plants is relatively less than that of the Thermal power plants. As it has a lower installed capacity hence the gestation period is also lesser. Power generation costs lower than fossil fuel system: Due to the lower costs of the fuel used in power generation, the total costs of power generation are also relatively lower. The costs of the fossil fuels are increasing day by day and hence making the cost of power generation costlier. The biomass being a very cheap and easily available fuel makes the power generation cheaper. Fossil fuel substitution very high: The fossil fuel costs are expected to keep rising day by day. India is one of the countries where fuels are the costliest in the world. Hence time has come to look for an alternative to fossil fuel and biomass is certainly one of the best alternatives available. Biomass has got a calorific value of 2500-4000 kJ/kg which is a decent figure to generate power. Potential very high: The biomass includes rice husk, wheat husk, coconut fronds etc. It has got a decent calorific value which is sufficient to generate electricity. Coal is the fuel which is used in abundance. Its calorific value is around 5000 kJ/kg. But, the disadvantage is the pollution which it creates. Hence, biomass should be looked as an alternative for the future to generate power.

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Available for continuous duty operation: As 70% of Indian population depends on farming, hence the amount of biomass it generates is immense.

Threats :

Power sector reforms may under emphasize biomass based systems: The use of fossil fuel in more emphasized today, so biomass may be left behind as no reforms could happen due to the lack of interest of the government and the private bodies. As a result of this, the use of biomass may get restricted and interest of the parties to invest in biomass will be deteriorated.

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Analysis of the survey

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Safety Concerns : There were many safety related issues which were seen at the sites. Some companies do follow the procedures and the rules of the DU-PONT but other smaller units do not follow any safety measure to cut costs and hence there is a urgent attention to be paid towards this issue. The use of safety equipments like the Safety Helmets, Safety Shoes etc was not mandatory at some of the sites which is a cause of concern. The techniques of Safety Management are often ignored by small scale industries. Hence, some kind of training & implementation activity needs to be carried out in such industries.

Boiler Vendors : In the survey conducted by me on behalf of THERMAX, it was seen that most of the sites in the state of Chhattisgarh has got Chinese vendors. Chinese vendors like Dongfang, Wuxi are fast getting into Indian market. The found reason for the Chinese upper hand in Chhattisgarh is that, the cost of the Chinese boiler is less than than of its India counterpart. And the power producers in Chhattisgarh are small mill owners hence they always opt for the cheaper alternative. Also the Chinese manufacturers are very quick in commissioning their boilers. The time of delivery has been also very competitive and the power manufacturers in India need quick delivery of the equipment.

Turbine Vendors : Chinese manufacturers are leading in the state of Chhattisgarh. Manufacturers like Manjing, Shinnippon, Quindow are the once being mostly used. After getting the feedback from the power plant heads about the performance of the turbines, it had been noticed that the Chinese turbines have been giving a decent performance. Shutdowns in the initial stages of commissioning had been there but with a regular maintenance work, the equipment is working well.

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MANAGEMENT LESSONS

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y y y

You might miss a great opportunity, if you are not well informed about your job. Build the culture of respect between the two tiers i.e. managers and employees. Employees of same department of the company focuses more on main goal rather than comparing itself to colleagues, increases communication and theyre driven to innovate.

y y

Every employee of the company needs to be in sync with their superiors and subordinates. With consistent success comes greater trust by senior management to make independent decisions and improvise when necessary.

Every employee of the company needs to have a clear understanding of their companys objective and be able to derive that forward.

Share even critical information with your superior in time, you may be in position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Always let your boss has the first say, interrupt if you have something innovative regarding to the project.

Be prepared for meetings no matter whether it is a large meeting or a simple one on one conversation. Your communication should be accurate, and if necessary, backed up by the appropriate documentation.

y y

Do not make assumptions about non-specific words. The entry and exit points of the plant are secured by real time monitors; therefore, one should cooperate with the security procedure.

y y

Behave patiently and show respect towards security officers and their procedures. Each department should develop a list of the kind of information they feel is lacking from other departments. It is an effective way of horizontal communication.

Always treat others the way you would like to be treated. Treating other employees respectfully encourages a workplace that is joyful and productive.

Good communication develops when all employees are kind and care about the well-being of others employees.

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For effective and efficient organizational communication, it is necessary to eliminate communication overload and ensure smooth flow.

For resolving interdepartmental conflicts, negotiating on Win-Win situation is beneficial for the organization.

Organization should support open door policy so that the employees feel comfortable and are able to express their doubts and feeling to their employers.

Every employee wants to be respected, appreciated, have opportunities to grow and learn, and be compensated appropriately. For a long term success, top level management need to take care of all these aspects.

Leaders have to consider themselves as a part of team, not as someone who manages or guides the team members.

To have better communication amongst employees management should develop an environment which stimulates excitement and enthusiasm for the job.

y y y

Set an objective for the meeting, it will help you in planning the whole schedule. Plan your meeting accordingly so that the organization will get fruitful results. Be sure that you and the client are in agreement with a specific deadline regarding the project you have discussed.

y y y y y

Be punctual for your meetings as it creates an impression about the company. Be brief when speaking and make sure what you say is relevant. Organization should have a clearly defined customer service policy. Be consistent with good ideas so that customers can rely on you to solve their problems. Suggest your clients the best deal among the alternatives and make sure they will believe that you know what's best for them.

Build mutual trust and respect. Once you've grown to understand each other and trust the quality of results, you can rely on each other's instincts and trust each other's judgment.

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Maintaining good relations with your existing employees and customers is more profitable than finding new ones.

y y

For gaining the loyalty of the customer one should provide excellent services to them. There is a direct relationship between the level of customer satisfaction and the quality of employees efforts, so management have to motivate their employees enough to customer satisfaction level.

y y

Customer always expects little more than what has been promised. Little knowledge about the product or project is dangerous as the customer has the same depth of knowledge or experience. So be well prepared before solving any customers query.

y y

Be up to date with new emerging technologies. Be honest and up front about information that your clients should be well aware of i.e. transparency is a key element for gaining loyalty.

y y y

Estimate the time frame for each project by which the task must be completed. Time is an important asset in business, therefore, use your time wisely. Align your priorities with organizational goal to get best output.

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Recommendations

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Concentrate more on power generation by renewable resources of energy: The market research of the biomass based power plants prove a vital point that there exists a huge potential in the power generation by the use of renewable resources. The figures of the Janjgir district clearly indicate this fact to be true as there exists a surplus of close to 40% excess amount of biomass available. Cost of equipment: Most of the power projects are on small scale i.e. between 2-10MW and small scale companies cannot afford the expensive equipments that are necessary for the functioning of the power plant. The major equipments include a BIOLER & a TURBINE which contributes 50% of the entire cost of procurement of a power plant. Hence, the company should keep the costs of equipments competitive to the market. Concentration on O&M service: Most of the companies owning a power plant have their own Operation & Maintenance teams which may have flaws and Thermax should convince those companies to take the advantage of their expertise for that task. The advantages of outsourcing the Operation & Maintenance are plenty as the client doesnt have to bother about the functioning of the power plant. Thermax should approach and convince the clients who use Thermax boilers to take up the O&M from them. Multifuel boilers: Now a days power producers do not depend on one fuel as a source for their power plant due to the fluctuation in price or availability. So there is a need for multi-fuel fired boilers and there is a demand for them too. Customer Feedback: Thermax should take regular feedback from their customers in order to keep a check on their equipments performance and also for a continuous cycle of improvement. This will also enable Thermax to maintain good customer relations which will in turn enhance the companys business and image in the market. Technical Delay: In order to maintain its reputation in the market, Thermax should avoid delays due to technical or manufacturing reasons as far as possible. Due to the shortage of power in India, many private players are getting into the field of energy and because the Indian manufacturers are not able to meet the requirement, these power producers are employing equipments from abroad. This is very important so as to sustain in the highly competitive market.

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Conclusion

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The very high potential of biomass, Indias capacity to add another 16000MW through biomass, biomass generation becoming financially viable, an established institutional framework with industrial base, increased awarenesss of environmental issues are the factors which help in the penetration of biomass power generation. The survey that was carried out was for Biomass based power plants in Chhattisgarh. The power plants were in the range of 2 20 MW. The cost of fuel was found to be varying between Rs 1100-Rs 1800 /tonne. This variance was seen mainly in accordance with the seasonal changes occurring in the particular region. The fuel became costly mostly during the rainy season. The generation cost for the power plants was found to be around Rs 4.15 to Rs 4.50 /kWh. Coal was found to be used in very small quantities as it has a higher calorific value. After speaking to a lot of people from the industry it was found that people are unaware about the presence of Thermax in the field of EPC though they very well knew about its boiler manufacturing capabilities. Thermax being one of the major in boiler manufacturing should be vigilant and aware of the competition from the Chinese vendors. Though, Thermax holds an edge over Chinese vendors in terms of quality but it should be kept in notice that the small power generation units cannot afford the high cost of the equipment. Multifuel boilers are the latest demand of the market and hence it gives Thermax an opportunity to go flamboyantly at that segment of the market. Thermax should try to get a grip over smaller projects as its name is not much familiar with smaller power manufacturers. There is a great opportunity for Thermax to build a good relation with these small manufacturers & capture that segment of the market. The power industry has got a very bright future as the needs in India are ever increasing and there is a huge shortage of power. There is a demand for eco-friendly power generation and the non-

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renewable resources of energy are fast getting depleted, hence the fuels like biomass, solar, water which are renewable resources should be considered as future prospects and new innovations towards power generation from renewable resources should continue to take place. Thermax being a brand in the power sector, the customers always want Thermax to push its limits and go beyond expectations. The EPC should be very acutely timed and the targets must be achieved which is a major part of customer satisfaction. As said by the management guru Mr. C K Prahlad that with globalization, CUSTOMER has become more powerful and pro-active figure, hence satisfying the customer i.e. The Bottom of the Pyramid is the biggest achievement for any company which is the ultimate goal of Thermax too.

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