CHINA: First of 30 biomass-fired power plants begins operation

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(EnergyAsia, December 7) --- China has started up its first biomass-fired power plant to produce 25,000 kilowatts of electricity in Shanxian county in the eastern province of Shandong last week. The 300-million-yuan plant is the first of more than 30 biomass power plants approved by the Chinese government, some which are already under construction.
The Shanxian plant will consume 150,000 to 200,000 tons of cotton stalks, tree branches, orchard and forestry waste annually, according to Xinhua news agency. (US$1=7.82 yuan). It can generate 160 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, displacing the equivalent of 400,000 tons of coal. Local farmers and biomass enterprises expect to earn about 40 million yuan from the project each year.

The amount of carbon dioxide produced by a 25,000-kilowatt biomass-fired power plant annually is 100,000 tons less than than that discharged by a thermal power plant with the same capacity. The ash of the burned biomass is high quality potash fertiliser.

The Shanxian plant is funded by the National Bio Energy Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China, which is in charge of the power grid covering northern China, or the areas to the north of the Yangtze River.

State Grid has been given the green light by the government to build 22 biomass power plants, including 15 with a combined installed capacity of 350,000 kilowatts that are under construction.

Established last October with a registered capital of one billion yuan, the National Bio Energy Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in the development of bioelectricity.