Bloom Energy, EnergyPower to produce electricity from biogas

Anaerobic digesters will be used to breakdown and clean biowaste to produce biomethane, which will fuel Bloom Energy Servers. (Reuters)

US-listed Bloom Energy and EnergyPower announced a joint effort to deploy an integrated solution for supplying clean, reliable power generated from municipal and agri waste to local Indian businesses, a company statement said. “Once complete, this project will be Bloom’s first commercial scale on-site biogas to electricity project in India,” it said. EnergyPower will be deploying a new agricultural and municipal waste digester combined with Bloom Energy’s solid oxide fuel cell technology to deliver reliable, renewable power to customers in the Shirala district, Maharashtra.

Anaerobic digesters will be used to breakdown and clean biowaste to produce biomethane, which will fuel Bloom Energy Servers. The project will have a tremendous environmental impact, as methane is 25 times more potent in the atmosphere than CO2 emissions, it said.

“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 K R 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.”

Developed in Silicon Valley, the Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cell is the world’s highest efficiency electric generating device. 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.