Cogeneration

An Emerging trend in India for Energy Crisis

S. N. Chaphekar, V. V. Khatavkar, A.A.Apte
Member IEEE
shalakachaphekar@yahoo.co.in

Abstract- The increasing price of fossil fuels, the increasing

need for the power supply reliability and security and the

increasing demand for energy-efficient technologies are tending to

favor the application of small power generation solutions. An
excellent approach to these solutions is to install combined heat
and owe
sytem that
tht cn
perte under
nde
and power
can bbe cofigredto
systems
configured to operate

normal conditions to supply local power needs but with grid back
up.
Cogeneration is also called 'total energy' or 'combined heat
and power'. It is the use of a single fuel such as gas to
simultaneously produce useful heat and electricity from the same
source. While cogeneration matches other power generation
options in terms of the investment costs, it provides an indigenous
source of the electrical energy for the nation, saves on foreign
exchange, is a tool for the employment and wealth creation and
agent for abatement of environmental degradation..

A significant potential exists for generating electricity from

various products such as bagasse, a waste product of the cane
milling process, agricultural, animal, municipal solid waste etc.
Several studies in India and other parts of the world, point to the
sugar industry as a prime candidate for supplying low cost, nonconventional power via cogeneration.
The different systems have been designed for electricity
generation from all types of wastes. The major power outages in
North America and Europe have resulted in focus on developing
energy technologies like domestic scale micro CHP (combined

Cogeneration produces a given amount of electricity and heat

up to 4000 less fuel than it takes to produce the electricity and

heat separately.

The success of Cogeneration depends on the quantum of

power the plant iS able to export. One important parameter that
oeeaini h
cncnrbt
ral otesceso
to the success of Cogeneration
is the
can contribute greatly

process side steam economy. A program of modernizing the

boiling house and pans and effecting steam economy should
precede the implementation of Cogeneration. There is an
urgent need to focus attention on this, as this could very well
improve the Cogeneration plant viability.
A typical cogeneration system consists of an engine and a
steam turbine that drives an electrical generator. A heat
exchanger recovers excess thermal energy from the engine

and/or exhaust gas to produce hot water or steam.

Cogeneration plants are run by private businesses. They
produce their own electricity, use excess thermal energy for
heating and sell unused power to local public utility companies
or into the market. India is facing a generating capacity
shortage of 23 00 and around 10% of the demand is left
unserved. This power supply shortfall may become worse as
demand growth exceeds the ability of the utilities to finance the

capacity.
capacty.
In India cogeneraton iS mainly based on conventhonal
heat and power) to reduce the reliance of the consumers on large
source like coal. However it has been proved that bagasse, the
generators and the grid.
This paper focuses on coal-based cogeneration. A case study of waste product of cane milling process, is the important non24 MIW coal based cogeneration plant is discussed in details. A conventional source for the cogeneration.
future scope on bagasse-based cogeneration is also been discussed.
Bagasse based cogeneration is not new to the sugar industry
but cogeneration based on high pressure boilers and extraction
I. INTRODUCTION
condensing or straight condensing machines is new to the
Conventional power generation is all about burning fuel to industry. The advantages involved in the cogeneration put a
produce the steam. It is pressure of the steam that actually turns demand on the sugar industry for modernization, discipline and
the turbines that generate power, an inefficient process as no for energy conservation. The major disadvantage of using
more than one third of the energy of the fuel is converted to the high-pressure boiler is 35-40%o additional cost compared to
steam pressure that generates electricity. The remainder of the low-pressure boilers.
India is the largest producer of cane sugar in the world and
energy is lost. Also the increasing price of the fossil fuels, the
increasing need for the power supply reliability and security efficient cogeneration can yield power of 3800 MW, based on
and increasing demand for the energy efficient technologies are the assumption that the average mills can generate 60-80 KWh
tending to favor the application of the small power generation per tonne cane.
solutions. An excellent approach to these solutions is the
11. POWER SECTOR AND COGENERATION IN INDIA
cogeneration.
After independence the Government of India (GOI) has
Cogeneration also called as combined heat and power, is a
very cost-efficient means of generating both electricity and decided to centralize power sector planning and made the state
thermal energy from the same fuel source. It captures and governments responsible for the management of the power
makes use of excess thermal energy, using it for industrial and systems. To discharge these functions the Central Electricity
domestic heating, commercial production processes and in Authority (CEA) and the State Electricity Boards (SEB) were
steam turbines to generate additional electrical energy. formed at the central and state government levels, respectively.

1 -4244-0726-5/06/$20.OO '2006 IEEE

new

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the level of capital investment necessary for a commercial

cogeneration project, b) the absence of regulatory incentives
for the utilities to purchase private power, c) lack of
Institutional resources, d) lack of adequate mechanisms to
ensure that the industry will be paid for the purchased power
by the utility, e)utility apprehensions regarding the reliability
and availability of privately generated power, f) in case of
biomass cogeneration project, the availability of off-season
fuel resources . These problems have forced GOI to institute
its new private power policies as below
1) The private sector can set up coal/lignite or gas based
thermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar energy projects of any
size.
2) Private sector can set up units either as "licensees"
distributing power in licensed area from own generation or
purchased power or as "generating companies" generating
power for supply to the grid.
3) Licensees will function under a liberalized economic and
legal environment.
4) Captive power plants set up by the private sector will be
permitted to sell or distribute the surplus power to the state
electricity boards.
This policy has changed the cogeneration scenario in India.
As a result apart from sugar, pulp and paper, textile industries,
industries like chemical producers, oil refiners and fertilizer
manufacturers have started favoring cogeneration.

The CEA is controlled through the department of Power of the

Ministry of Energy, Government of India.
The SEBs account for about 7500 of the total generation and
most of the transmission and distribution to the end users. India
has five private utilities, which account for 500 of the public
supply. These are BSES (Bombay Suburban Electric Supply),
TEC (Tata Electric Companies), AEC (Ahmadabad Electricity
Company), and SEC (Surat Electric Company) CESC (Calcutta
Electric Supply Corporation). These utilities have been allowed
to operate independently by their state governments, resulting
in greater degree of technical and financial health than the
SEBs. Despite the increase in the installed capacity, India's
Power systems are struggling to overcome chronic power
outages and poor power quality, resulting in a 2% loss to the
GDP. The response to the chronic power outages in India has
been voltage reductions and involuntary load shedding by the
utilities.
The Government of India has recognized that increased
efficiency of electricity end-use and demand management must
be implemented along with the supply options to mitigate
power shortages and reduce the need for capital mobilization
associated with capacity expansion.
These difficulties made the industrial cogeneration to be the
subject of considerable importance and interest. However the
major obstacles to be overcome before cogeneration projects
were a) the lack of a power purchase price that would justify
890
.

81 8.5

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81 6.4

515

190.0

510

190.0

2 MW
~~~~~~2xl

(1< 7
COAL
FIRED

BOILERST

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~ ~~~~~~~~G
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BLOWDOWN
O.O TPH

1 '
45.0

4'

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TO PROCESS

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1g46.0

13.0

668.4

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5,,

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CONDI NSATE

RETURN FROM PROCESS

AE UP WATER

1-Hea an-Ms-Blac
Fig~~~~~~~-Daga-fr-4MWPln

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111. ADVANTAGES OF COGENERATION

1) Ensures the reliability of the operation- Since the plant is
located onsite there are no major transmission and distribution

Steam & Condensate Data

Average Steam required for Process
Peak Steam requirement for Process

TPH

140.00

TPH

160.00

problems.

Controlled extraction Pressure

Ata

13.00

Condensing to vacuum
Condensate Return

Ata
0

Permissible
90.00

Deg C
TPH

90.0
95.00

Ata

89.00

Deg C

515.00

2) Reduces the electricity outages-A typical plant is

guaranteed to function for 9500 of the year, with the scheduled
outages only for the maintenance purposes.
3) Assures the high quality of electricity for industrial
operations-Atypical plant can operate with 80% efficiency with
cogeneration, saving a substantial amount of fuel.
4) Makes truly independent electricity available-the only tie
with the utility is to parallel their grids, supplying standby
power during scheduled outages.
5) Serves single or multiple users located in the

Temperature of Condensate
Boiler Capacity

BoilerSteamGenerationPressure
Boiler Steam Generation Temperature

neighborhood.

Fuel Data

IV. A CASE STUDY OF 24 MW COAL BASED COGENERATION POWER

PLANT

Fuel for the Cogeneration plant

Furnace Oil

Quantity
KCAL/KG

GCV in Kcal/Kg
13800.00

A case study of textile industry is done to study

cogeneration. The industry utilizes high-pressure steam for its
process. Two boilers of 95 TPH each has been installed at site
out of which 140 TPH capacity has been used for the process
of the textile industry. Remaining 45-50 TPH capacity of boiler
bee used
use for
fr generation.
geeain
iSis been
A high-pressure steam produced in the boiler is passed
through the steam turbine for the generation of the power. For
the generation of 24 MW, steam required is approx. 96 TPH.
The requirement of the steam for the process of the industry is
140 TPH. Hence the total capacity of the boiler would have
been 140+96=236 TPH if the generation and process are
carried out separately.
Cogeneration helps in reduction of the capacity of the boiler.
The extraction of 140 TPH steam at 13 ata generates approx.
11 MW of power. The remaining 13 MW of power is
generated by approx. 52 TPH of the steam. Hence the boiler
capacity required is 190 TPH. The Heat and Mass Balance
Diagram is shown in the Fig No. 1
A plant has become self-dependant with the erection of this
plant. It satisfies the complete need of its demand for the
electricity.

LDO

KCAL/KG

10608.00

Grade F Coal
Cost of fuel

KCAL/KG

3400.00

Furnace Oil

Rs./Ton

11419.00

LDO

Rs./Ton

18000.00

Grade F Coal

Rs./Ton

1900.00

Cost of DM water

Rs/M3

8.00

Cost of Steam

Rs/Ton

529.39

Max Demand connection

MVA

15.00

Demand Charge

Rs/KVA

180

Fixed Grid Power rate

Rs/Unit

0.40

V. DESIGN DATA

Power Data
Average
Power

Demand for Process

Peak Power Demand for Process

Auxiliary Power Consumption
Total Power Plant size
Power Plant Availability

KW

18000.00

KW
KW
KW
Hours

22000.00
2530.00
24530.00
8200.00

Cost of other Utilities

Existing Power Connection

An industry is having 8MW Furnace Oil (FO) based

generator. It is interested in erecting 24 MW coal based
cogeneration plant.
The average power demand for process is 18000 MW. The
availability of the plant in a year is 8760 hours. Hence the total
energy required for the plant is 1576.8Lac KWh.
The erection of 24MW coal based cogeneration plant
produces 1513.12 Lac KWh at the site. The remaining
63.68Lac KWh is imported from the grid.
The existing system needs the import of 986.40 Lac KWh
from the grid. The purchase rate of electricity from the supply
authority is Rs.4.40 per unit. Hence the cost of grid power is
Rs.43.4OCrs.Also the expenses of Rs.6 1.72 crores are needed
for the generation of the steam in the existing system.

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Particulars

Units

Power Data

FO BASED

Pure
Coal

lx 8

2 x12.3

8000.00

24530.00

100%

85%0

Estimated Project Cost

Rs.Crores

40.00

140.00

Fuel Cost for Power

Rs.Crs

27.58

62.16

Grid Power

Rs Crs

43.40

2.80

Cost of the power

Gross Power

KW

Plant loading

Generation at Site

KW

8000.00

20850.50

Contract Demand Charges180perKVAper Month

Rs./Crs

4.00

3.24

Auxiliary Consumption

KW

800.00

2397.81

O&M Cost

Rs. Crs

1.21

3.16

Net Power Generated

KW

7200.00

18452.69

Interest Cost

Rs. Crs

2.00

7.00

Operating hours per annum

Hours

8200.00

8200.00

Steam generation Cost

Rs Crs

61.72

Depreciation Cost per annum

Rs Crs

1.60

5.60

Variable)

Rs Crs

141.51

83.97

Rs Crs

0.00

100.00

57.55

Units exported per annum

Lac KWh

590.40

1513.12

Import from grid

Lac KWh

986.40

63.68

Total Cost of Energy for

Power, Steam (Fixed Plus

Steam Data

Steam generation from system

TPH

8.00

140.00

Deficit Steam quantity during

normal operation

TPH

132.00

0.00

Additional Capital investment

Deficit Steam quantity during

peak operation

TPH

20.00

0.00

year

Rs Crs

Yes

No

Pay Back Period

Years

NA

95.00

FO

Coal

2.95

39.90

Steam generation from old

Boiler required

Capacity of Standby boiler

Fuel Data
Fuel for the plant
Fuel Required annually

TPH

Fuelfor Power

TPH

Fuelfor steam

TPH

Calorific Value of fuel

10200.00
NA

Coal

Kcal/ Kg
Kcal/ Kg
Kcal/Kg

Cost of fuel
Furnace Oil
LDO/Suitable for GTG
Coal

Rs/Ton
Rs./Ton
Rs./Ton

11419.00

Operating Data
Interest on Capital (Assuming
lOOoo Debt)

00

Furnace Oil
LDO/Suitable for GTG

3400

1900

500

500

Rs./KWh
Rs./KWh
Rs./KWh

0.185
0.08

0.185
0.08

0.005

0.005

Rs./KWh
Maintenance Cost
Rs./KWh
Estimated Plant ifeYears
00
Depreciation rate expected

0.08

0.08

0.02
25

0.02

400

400

O&M Cost on Gross

generation
Manpower Cost
Consumables Cost
Spares Cost

25

Additional Running cost /

1.74

Comparing the existing system with proposed cogeneration,

the
cost of energy is higher for the existing generation.
The total
capital
investment is much higher for the coal-based
cogeneration. The payback period is calculated by taking the
ratio of capital cost to the running cost. Since the payback
period is very small, it is beneficial to set up the cogeneration

plant.

The case studies of the sugar industries from Tamilnadu and

Maharashtra have been considered in addition to the case study
of coal-based cogeneration. The conclusions made from the
case studies of the sugar industries are as follows.
1) All the sugar mills can be configured to export power
depending upon the size of the mill, choice of the cogeneration
scheme and the availability of the additional fuel to supplement
bagasse produced on the site In Tamilnadu industries are using
lignite as supplementary fuel during off-season. In Maharashtra
storage of bagasse is essential during off-season.
2) Typical mills in India employ low-pressure boilers
(21atm, 330 C) to generate steam and back pressure turbo
alternators to provide for heat and mechanical power within the
plant. Installation of the double extraction condensing turbines
and boilers capable of producing high-pressure steam (63atm,
480C) can increase the power production per tonne of fuel and
quantity of the power available for the export.
3) Economic viability is highly sensitive to the amount of
power exported per unit of capital investment and thus depends
upon year-round operation, with supplemental fuels during the
off season, and a large generating capacity relative to the
internal electric demands of the mill.
4) A long term contract between SEB and the investor in
cogeneration is essential for the security of the investor in the
cogeneration system and for the reliance of the SEB on the
added increment of the supply in planning and managing its
generating capacity.

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VII.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

ACKNOWLEDMENTS

The principal challenges facing the power sector are

1) To ensure provision of reliable, efficient and cost
effective power supply.
2) To increase the population's access to electricity as a
means for stimulating income and employment growth.
3) To improve the efficiency of power distribution and
supply through reductions in technical and non technical losses
and collection of the revenues.
4) To strengthen the regulatory framework.
The reduced levels of electric service and reliability are
impeding economic expansion and forcing utility customers
who can afford them to install costly back up generators.
However one of the economical solutions to overcome the
reduced electric service is to provide cogeneration plant. A key
objective of cogeneration is to promote policies, which ensure
that developers building combined cycle power plants take the
advantage of the cogeneration potential available,
Several studies in India as well as in other parts of the world

have proved that sugar industry is a prime candidate for the

industrial cogeneration. Advantages include relatively low
capital requirement, a renewable indigenous waste material as
a fuel and sugar mills of sufficient number and size to make a
measurable contribution to power supplies. Despite these
advantages cogeneration remains an untapped potential in most
countries including India.

The bagasse based surplus power Cogeneration is not

entirely a new technology. The successful operation of the
plants that have been commissioned and operating prove that
bagasse based Cogeneration could play a substantial role in
bridging the ever widening gap between the electricity supply
and demand.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Thermax India

Ltd.(Cogeneration Division)for the work on 24 MW coal based cogeneration

plant.
REFERENCES
p
[1] India Cogen report prepared by Winrock International and International
development and Energy Associates Inc., Arlington, VA 22209
Periodicals[2]

Cogeneration

and

On-site

power

production

Issues-January-

February2005 pp-43-49
[3] Cogeneration and On-site power production Issues-September-

October2004 pp7l-77

S. N. Chaphekar -She received B.E. (Electrical) from University of Pune

1994 and M.E.(Power Systems) from University of Pune in 1998. She is

working
as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in
Progressive Education Society's Modern College of Engineering, Pune. She

has an industrial experience of 1 year and teaching experience of 10 years. She

is a member of IEEE and life member of Indian Society for Technical
Education. Her areas of interest are Electrical Machines and Power System

Analysis.

V. V. Khatavkar -She received B.E. (Electrical) from University of Pune

1987 and M.E.(Power Systems) from University of Pune in 1998. She is
working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in

Progressive
Education Society's Modern College of Engineering, Pune. She
has an industrial experience of 6 months and teaching experience of 17 years.
She is a member of IEEE and life member of Indian Society for Technical

Education. Her areas of interest are Electrical Machines and Power System

Analysis

A.A.Apte-She received B.E. (Electrical) in 1992 and M.E.(control Systems)

from University of Pune in 2005. She is working as Assistant Professor in the
Department of Electrical Engineering in All India Shree Shivaji memorial
Society's College of Engineering, Pune. She has teaching experience of 13
years. She is a member of IEEE and life member of Indian Society for
Technical Education. Her areas of interest are Power electronics and drives.

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