Guwahati, Mar 20: Around a hundred tea gardens have been solarised, and a similar number is in the process of being solarised, as the industry is increasingly turning to the alternative power source to reduce production costs.

Power constitutes a major expenditure head for the production of tea. Around 0.94 units of electricity are needed for every kg of tea manufactured.

There are a large number of tea manufacturing units in Assam using natural gas and coal as the fuel. The energy consumption involved in tea production is a pressing concern, given the associated high costs and CO₂ emissions resulting from fossil fuel usage.

While tea crops possess the capacity to absorb a noteworthy amount of greenhouse gas emissions, it falls short of offsetting the emissions stemming from the combustion of fossil fuels during energy generation for tea production.

A study in Assam and Bengal tea gardens had revealed that for every tonne of tea produced, tea factories contributed around 3,292 493.91kg of CO₂ emissions, while tea gardens contributed about 13.61 kg CO2 per ha.

There is a huge discrepancy between CO2 generation through tea production and sequestration by tea plantations, which underscores the urgent need for the replacement of non-renewable energy sources with renewable alternatives such as solar thermal energy and wind energy, the study noted.

"Moreover, the cost of power doubles when running on diesel gensets in the absence of grid supply. Erratic grid supply with frequent interruption and voltage fluctuations causes deterioration in the quality of tea manufactured, thereby inflicting a loss in revenue in realisation of tea prices," a spokesman of Tata Power, which has installed solar systems in around 50 TES and has another 100 in the pipeline, told The Assam Tribune.

On the manufacturing side at the factory level, fuel (25 per cent) and power (20 per cent) are the major cost heads. A huge portion of the working capital of tea gardens is spent on contract demand charges of power and gas.

The spokesman said an average of 35-40 per cent of electricity in a tea garden can be catered to from solar energy, which has a payback period of 3.5-4 years and free power for the next 25-30 years. An investment of around Rs 30 lakh is required for a 100 kW solar plant which can generate 330 units a day.

Another utility, Roofsol, has done more than 50 solar projects in various tea gardens in Assam. "We have been doing these projects since 2020. These are generally of capacity 250-800 KWp in size per site and generate approximately 3.5 lakh to 10 lakh units per annum per garden depending on the size. Because there have been grid power supply challenges in Assam, all the tea gardens are equipped with diesel generators. Our solar plants have arrangements of synchronisation with diesel generators to save high-cost diesel and enhance green initiatives; this is in addition to the normal power savings due to solar plants," the company said.

This "green tagging" of Assam tea is also expected to boost its image in the export market.

Mohit Agarwal, who installed one of the first solar power plants in Upper Assam at Ligripookrie Tea Estate five years ago, said that solar power generation has helped immense reduction in electricity charges. He said that the Assam Integrated Clean Energy Policy is a huge step for the Assam government to steer the state towards green energy, and this stimulus will encourage all tea factories to adopt renewable energy.

"All credit goes to the Chief Minister for allowing energy banking. The tea industry needs to reciprocate and embrace this impetus," Agarwal said.

By

Rituraj Borthakur