Aurangabad, Dec 4 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) has decided to use biomass briquettes in Parli thermal power station on an experimental basis, a senior official said on Saturday. The Centre has made it mandatory to use briquettes of biomass in power generation projects, and the state-run company responsible for power generation has initiated the process, the official said. "We have issued an expression of interest recently to procure biomass briquettes with desired parameters. If we get those, we will conduct the experiment using 5 to 7 per cent of briquettes, which can be later taken to 10 per cent," the official told PTI. According to the expression of interest, the briquettes should have moisture not more than 9 per cent, and the calorific value range has to be around 3,500 Kcal for non-torrefied and 4,500 for torrefied briquettes, he said. Earlier, former BJP MLC Pasha Patel had written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding the use of briquettes or biomass pallets as a fuel for thermal power stations in the state. PTI AW ARU ARU