Turnkey pelletising plant helps tackle urban pollution and boosts net zero potential
Agricultural residue turned into co-fired fuel to meet stringent national sustainability legislation
To help counter India’s ever-more stringent emission laws, multi-source processing and pelleting solutions from ANDRITZ are playing a pivotal role in the repurposing of agricultural waste that would otherwise have been burnt, further compounding the country’s emissions challenge. The pellets created by the turnkey plant – developed for K2 Biofuels – are used for co-fired heating and power generation, further reducing the overall carbon impact.
Challenges
Stubble burning has been used in agriculture for millennia in India, but the pollution it causes – especially in nearby urban areas – accumulates alongside other emissions generated by commerce, industry, transportation and utilities.
The evidence and effects of this pollution are acutely evident in major population areas, with several parts of New Delhi recently recording air quality index (AQI) readings of 450 – considered “severe” according to international pollution standards.
As a result of this ongoing problem, India’s national government has introduced legislation that tasks utility companies to use at least 5% biomass pellets – primarily from agricultural residue that would otherwise be burnt – in coal based co-fired systems. The policy was recently revised to increase this to 7% from the start of 2025-26.
It is estimated that India has a biomass surplus of around 230 million tonnes per year. As a result, the opportunities to have a positive environmental impact – from co-firing and a reduction in stubble burning – will make a real difference to the country’s environmental efforts as it targets net zero by 2070.
One company that has recognised the incredible potential that this approach can deliver is K2 Biofuels, a forward-thinking ‘green energy’ company based in Haryana, India.
Specialising in solutions that exploit the power of biomass, it has recently commissioned ANDRITZ to build a pelletising plant that can create 210 tonnes of biomass pellets per day from a variety of agricultural byproducts and residues.
The turnkey plant designed, built, and installed by ANDRITZ, comprises multiple modules, including a shredder, a screener, driers, a hammer mill, a pelleting machine, coolers and a sieve unit used to return fines back into the system.
A woodchipper and drier were also supplied by a third party, but all installation and commissioning were undertaken by ANDRITZ, as a single-point-of-contact prime contractor.
A major feature of the plant is its flexibility to process multiple raw material types, all of which are available in abundance in and around the local area. Wood, mustard husk and rice straw can all be chipped, shredded, screened and dried prior to pelleting, to deliver a range of pellet types, based on seasonal variations and raw material availability.
ANDRITZ also delivered a powerful, but simple-to-use control architecture, which comprises intuitive HMI screens and a SCADA solution that oversees the entire plant via a PLC. Interactions are designed in such a way that operators do not require high-level skills in order to achieve maximum uptime. The new line comprises primary plant equipment from ANDRITZ, including four HM43606 grinders (two wet grinders and two dry grinders) and eight PM30-6 pellet mills, which are exclusively designed for biomass processes.
These latest-generation pellet mills use optimized die speeds and a patented feed system to deliver high-quality products and increased capacity, but with reduced maintenance demands. Equipped with a highly energy efficient, double-reduction gearbox, the optimized die speeds can be achieved even at high working loads.
“India is not unique in its huge biomass potential. Pelletising creates a strong opportunity for many industries to re-purpose byproducts and local agricultural waste into something more useful… and with a lower environmental impact. This plant is just one of many successes we are seeing around the world, with plenty of other facilities in the pipeline.”
Solutions
The greenfield plant, 80 km from New Delhi, started production in September 2025 and is currently producing 210 tonnes of pellets per day, with a projected target of over 1,000 tonnes.
NTPC Ltd., India’s largest integrated power utility company, and K2 customer, estimates that it alone requires over 1,000 MT of biomass per day, per plant, so there is huge scope for scaling established operations and the creation of similar plants close to other power-generation facilities.
Sister company, K2 Ethanol, will also soon add to the company’s portfolio with the design, build, and installation of another huge project from ANDRITZ, comprising a 150 KLPD (Kilo Liters per day) ethanol distillery and a 400 TPD (tons per day) animal feed pellet plant that will utilise the by products from the ethanol production.
Rajpal Yadav, Managing Director at K2 Biofuels, explains: “ANDRITZ was the only company that could offer us a complete end-to-end turnkey solution and that it could offer us the efficiency, quality and intuitive operations that we required. We also knew that its pelletising technology is proven in applications across the world.”
Results and outcomes
“Thanks to our deployment of plant solutions from ANDRITZ, we have been able to tightly control all the process parameters and end-product variables and have successfully exported around 30,000 tons of wood pellets to a major customer as the first order from our new Quang Binh plant,” Mr. Vu Quang Sang adds. “We trust Andritz for its equipment performance and qualified service.
“Compared to other lines, output capacity has risen by around 10%, thanks to the new pellet mill, and we are achieving total uptime of around 98%. Pellet quality has also improved, while the new digital control and automation solution make the whole plant easier to operate.
“The team at ANDRITZ in Vietnam has supported us commendably – from the very first project – always applying their significant knowledge, professionalism and technical skills. And we hope to continue this cooperation with ANDRITZ for future projects, with three new factories on the roadmap, all with larger capacities than our current installed base.”
Contact information
ANDRITZ Feed and Biofuel A/S-Denmark
Glentevej 5-7
6705 Esbjerg, Denmark.
Phone: +45 72 160 300
Email: feed-biofuel@andritz.com