State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) today said it has entered into an agreement to supply LPG to US-based fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power.
"Under the five-year contract, HPCL will supply commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Plug Power's GenSys fuel cell systems powering remote cell towers in rural India," the company said in a statement here.
Plug Power Energy India Pvt Ltd, a unit of Nasdaq-listed Plug Power Inc, had bagged an order from WTTIL — the cell tower arm of Tata Teleservices Ltd — for 200 GenSys systems to be installed at TTSL cell tower sites by March 2010. The company expects to install around 1,000 systems by end 2010.
"HPCL will be providing LPG fuel for the initial 200 installations," it said.
GenSys provides continuous power to cell tower sites with no or extremely unreliable electric grid service. About 10 per cent of the cell towers in India currently operate completely off-grid where the primary power is provided by diesel generators.
"HPCL is evaluating the utilisation of GenSys prime power systems within its own infrastructure, including petrol pumps, community kitchens, pipelines and other potential applications," the statement said.
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HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Arun Balakrishnan said the agreement was a step towards providing clean and reliable energy solutions to customers.
HPCL has an extensive pan-India infrastructure, delivering 5,80,000 cylinders of LPG on a daily basis.HPCL is also currently evaluating the utilization of GenSys prime power systems within its own infrastructure including gasoline fueling stations, community kitchens, pipelines and other potential applications.
HPCL's Chairman and Managing Director, Arun Balakrishnan, said, "this agreement is a giant step towards providing clean and reliable energy solutions to our customers through technological advancements. This synergy with Plug Power Energy India would also go a long way in propagating the use of efficient and cleaner fuel to reduce effect of climate changes."
"HPCL has been a great partner to date, supporting our early trial and demonstration activities with the on-time delivery of LPG gas," Plug Powers vice-president for Continuous Power, Mark Sperry, said.
Strata-gems Management Consultants served as the strategic advisors for this project, helping to negotiate the successful agreement between all three companies involved and bring this clean energy technology to India, the release said.