India's sugar industry operates over 500 sugar mills with captive cogeneration power plants. These mills run primarily on bagasse — the fibrous residue from sugarcane crushing — as boiler fuel during crushing season (October–April). But during the off-season or when bagasse stocks run low, mills face a critical fuel gap. Biomass pellets from BBI are the ideal supplementary fuel to bridge this gap without importing coal.
The Bagasse Gap Problem
A typical 5,000 TCD (tonnes of cane per day) sugar mill generates approximately 1,500 TPD of bagasse at 50% moisture. At its own boiler efficiency, this is sufficient to power the mill and export 15–20 MW of surplus power to the grid. However:
- Bagasse at 50% moisture has an effective GCV of only 2,200–2,400 Kcal/kg
- Stored bagasse deteriorates — moisture rises and GCV drops during extended storage
- Distillery operations attached to sugar mills run year-round, requiring steam even in the off-season
- Power export commitments under PPAs require consistent generation regardless of cane availability
How Biomass Pellets Supplement Bagasse
BBI biomass pellets (4200–4600 Kcal/kg, <10% moisture) can be co-fired with bagasse in existing bagasse-fired boilers at up to 30% substitution without any burner modification. At higher substitution rates (30–70%), minor air-fuel ratio adjustments are needed.
The high GCV of pellets relative to bagasse means that 1 kg of BBI pellets replaces approximately 1.8–2.0 kg of wet bagasse on an equivalent heat basis. This makes pellets an energy-dense, easily stored supplementary fuel for mills maintaining cogeneration output.
Distillery Boiler Applications
Ethanol distilleries attached to sugar mills run their boilers year-round for fermentation heating, distillation, and effluent treatment. During the 6-month off-season when bagasse is unavailable, distilleries typically switch to coal. BBI biomass pellets provide a cleaner, cost-competitive alternative — at comparable energy cost to coal but with zero SO₂ emissions and far lower ash burden.
Pricing for Sugar Mill & Distillery Volumes
Sugar mills and distilleries typically require 500–2,000 MT/month during off-season. BBI can structure dedicated supply partnerships for such volumes with quarterly price indexing to agro-commodity benchmarks. Long-term contracts (2–3 years) qualify for preferential pricing.
Discuss your off-season fuel requirement with BBI's supply team.