Bloom Energy and EnergyPower announced a joint effort to deploy an integrated solution for supplying power to local Indian businesses. Once complete, this project will be Bloom’s first commercial scale on-site biogas to electricity project in India.
EnergyPower will be deploying a new agricultural and municipal waste digester combined with Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cell technology to deliver power to customers in the Shirala district, Maharashtra. The fuel cells will come from the company’s Newark plant.
Anaerobic digesters will be used to break down and clean biowaste to produce biomethane, which will fuel Bloom Energy Servers. The project will have a tremendous environmental impact in removing methane emissions, which is important as methane is 25 times more potent in the atmosphere than CO2 emissions.
“We are happy to bring Bloom Energy’s technology into our clean energy ecosystem at a time when India’s industrial sectors continue to grow,” said Shyam Vasantrao Raut, chairman and managing director of EnergyPower. “After demonstration, we plan to deploy the solution in the majority of the states in India.”
Bloom Energy plans to install and operate 4 MW of Bloom Energy Servers at the plant in Shirala, Maharashtra in the first half of 2020.
“India’s growing economy is in need of reliable renewable power now more than ever,” said KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bloom Energy. “This collaboration not only produces renewable energy from bio-waste, but ensures it’s being used efficiently where needed.”
Bloom Energy Servers can use natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen as fuel, and produce power without combustion through an electrochemical process that generates virtually no smog-forming emissions. With biogas as fuel, Bloom Energy Servers produce zero carbon electricity on-site, allowing easy deployment around the world without relying on the traditional grid.
EnergyPower is a zero carbon and net zero emissions technology company that combines many clean energy sources, including solar, thermal, wind, waste heat, and hydroelectric in India.
“The technology partnership between Bloom Energy and EnergyPower gives us a unique opportunity to provide clean energy to local communities and businesses,” said Venkat Venkataraman, chief technology officer of Bloom Energy. “We see great opportunities with the combination of biogas technology and our fuel cells in India.”
Bloom Energy India has more than 250 employees in Mumbai and Bengaluru. The company has deployed a 3.5 megawatt project integrated with Intel’s smart and green building design.
While the system has helped improved reliability of power availability, it has also helped reduce carbon emissions by at least 65% when compared to Indian national grid standards, a release stated.
The company also recently announced a first-of-its-kind commercial real estate development in Bangalore – the Whitefield Towe. The development will be powered by Bloom fuel cells.
