Gail to use fuel cell technology to generate clean energy

Gail India Ltd will partner with the US-based Bloom Energy to deploy natural gas-based fuel cell technology to generate clean and reliable electricity. An MoU to this effect was signed by the two companies today.

Speaking on the occasion, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “The biggest beneficiary of this MoU will be urban India because it will significantly decrease pollution caused by back-up power generation.” 

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology of Bloom Energy Servers convert fuel into electricity using natural gas as the base fuel to generate reliable and resilient power in a highly efficient non-combustible process that reduces emissions of greenhouse gas and harmful air pollutants, with minimal use of water vis-a-vis the conventional power producing technologies. The Bloom Energy Servers could be installed onsite at any operating premises or building and can be plugged into natural gas pipeline to generate uninterrupted, efficient, noise-less power round-the-clock. 

The technology is presently used by over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, Walmart, etc that operate in sectors like FMCG, IT, telecom, retailing and e-commerce.

Gail’s subsidiary at Bengaluru is already supplying natural gas for energising a multi-MW Bloom Energy project for a large global technology company at the Technology Park. 

The tie-up seeks to leverage the strengths of both the organisations. While Gail brings a portfolio of natural gas to ensure reliable and competitively available natural gas for Bloom Energy projects, Bloom Energy’s power systems run on advanced solid oxide fuel cell technology that efficiently produces electricity based on natural gas. 

Dr K R Sridhar, CEO & founder, Bloom Energy, said, “This partnership brings us closer to realise Bloom Energy’s mission to provide access to clean, reliable and affordable energy for India and the world.”