Future Power Generation System in India – IBA Perspective

Renewable smart energy systems will undergo a fundamental shift in the biogas industry, according to the Indian Biogas Association. Moving to a decarbonized economy with much higher proportions of variable renewable electricity as well as BioCNG, will change the structure and characteristics of energy provision and consumption.

August 09, 2022. By News Bureau

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Indian Biogas Association

In the past few decades, the role of biogas has been viewed differently. Wet segregated biodegradable solid wastes from municipal, industrial, and agricultural sources have traditionally been treated with biogas, but more recently it has been used as a renewable energy source (Paddy straw and other agri waste to biogas). While generating electricity was initially the primary end use of biogas, upgrading to renewable gas (Compressed biogas/BioCNG) which can be injected into the existing gas grid or used as a transportation fuel has grown in popularity in recent times in India.

Renewable smart energy systems will undergo a fundamental shift in the biogas industry, according to the Indian Biogas Association. Moving to a decarbonized economy with much higher proportions of variable renewable electricity as well as BioCNG, will change the structure and characteristics of energy provision and consumption. Because of this, the energy market will undergo significant changes, particularly as it relates to the times of production and consumption. There will be a shift in the economics and demand for different energy sources as CO2 emission reduction becomes more important. Energy vectors must be integrated to enable PV during daylight hours, wind power when there is wind, and renewable sources of dispatchable energy such as bioenergy.

The biogas plant operation itself can be controlled extensively and with this control comes high levels of flexibility. This is a huge advantage over other renewable energy provision systems. Additionally, biogas systems can be ramped up and down in order to match the changes in temporal mismatch between variable renewable energy supply and demand for a variety of energy vectors, which is a very positive attribute. Power to gas systems can be a node of integration between the electrical and natural gas grids, providing a sink for electricity that would otherwise be curtailed or constrained and an enhanced producer of green gas for injection into the natural gas grid for use as a source of electricity, heat or advanced transportation fuel.

It is possible for biogas systems to deliver energy in a variety of ways, such as facilitating voltage and grid stability, facilitating heat delivery to consumers, decarbonizing gaseous fuels, and directly to local consumers, such as for transport fuel (BioCNG) for haulage and buses, to the electricity grid. In local distribution energy grids, biogas and photovoltaics (PV) can form a virtual power plant that can be an important source of energy. When used as a biological battery, biogas can connect the electricity and gas grids. Hydrogen from electricity (preferably curtailed or constrained) can be used to react with CO2 in biogas to produce more BioCNG (replacing the role of physio-chemical upgrading techniques) and increase biomethane output from biogas systems in the future electro-fuel market and this can be as high as more than 50%.

As gaseous energy carriers evolve, the future of biogas will be affected. Between 50 -100 % more energy is delivered to the end user in Europe and the United States as gas than electricity. When biogas can be used to replace fossil natural gas in existing infrastructure, such as the food and beverage industry and in high temperature applications for material production, it offers significant advantages (such as cement and glass). Biogas plants have the potential to address a wide range of future agricultural and waste treatment infrastructure challenges, as well as circular economy approaches to the production of transportation biofuels. System integration and flexibility are important drivers for future biogas systems to be integrated into existing energy grids in order to facilitate intermittent renewable electricity generation.

- Indian Biogas Association