Praj expands Bio-Energy basket by adding Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) Technology;
Pune, India, 10 January 2019: Praj Industries announced ground-breaking of integrated demo plant of Compressed bio-Gas (CBG) at the hands of Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman- High Level Committee and Chairman- Scientific Advisory Committee on Hydrocarbons of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The ceremony was held on Wednesday, 9th Jan 2019, at Shreenath Mhaskoba Surgar Factory, adjacent to existing 2nd Gen Bio-Refinery demo facility that is operational since past 3 years. .
Praj unveiled its roadmap for commercialization of CBG technology and reaffirmed its readiness by way of required infrastructure to execute multiple CBG plants with advanced technology and designs. In October of 2018 Govt. of India released “Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation” (SATAT) policy which envisages implementation of 5,000 Compressed Bio-Gas plants in the next 5 years. CBG is a complementary renewable transportation fuel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Praj’s CBG technology is a major step in that direction.
Praj’s demo plant is first of its kind integrated CBG plant in the country. This flexible and highly instrumented plant will test, improve and optimize production of CBG from different feedstock such as biomass, press mud, variety of agri waste,paper mill pith etc.
Dr.Kakodkar lauded Praj’s continued commitment to introduce new technologies in Bio-Energy, during his visit to the 2nd Gen bio refinery demo plant. He said “With the advent of 2nd Gen technology, Bio-Energy has significant role to play in energy mix. I particularly appreciate professionalism, engineering and safety aspects of demo plant. I congratulate Praj for very well thought-through development approach of integrating Bio-Ethanol -a liquid fuel and CBG-a gaseous fuel as it helps capture larger value from biomass”.
Chaudhari briefed the progress on the execution of 1st batch of 3 numbers of 2nd Gen Bio-Refineries, contracted by major oil marketing companies. He informed that design engineering work is already completed and Praj has started receiving corresponding supply orders for the proprietary equipment for main plants.
Talking about landmark developments Pramod Chaudhari said, “Praj has always been at the forefront of introducing innovative technologies in the Bio-Energy space. Following introduction of 2nd Gen Ethanol Bio-Fuel we are now inducting CBG- gaseous renewable fuel technology to the Bio-Energy basket. These two technologies complement each other and will play key role in India’s pursuit of energy self-reliance, while reducing carbon foot prints significantly. With introduction of CBG technology, Praj has reinforced its technology leadership and commitment towards sustainable Bio-Economy.” Shishir Joshipura, MD & CEO, PRAJ was present for the press conference.
In the meanwhile for the conventional 1G ethanol business, Praj reported enhanced traction from their existing and potential customers on the back of additional feedstocks, attractive ethanol pricing and interest subsidies on loans.
