B'luru to have mega tower powered by electricity generated

Bloom Energy, Atelier Global, GAIL (India) Ltd, IOC, and representatives of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, on Thursday announced a commercial real estate development here that will be powered by clean reliable electricity generated using natural gas.

Atelier, a real estate developer, has conceptualised Whitefield Tower, a business-hospitality development with 6.9 lakh square feet of premium offices housing "business checks in," 2 levels of "shoppable entertainment," 60-room boutique hotel, high-end co-working spaces among others.

Upon its completion, the Whitefield Tower will be a first-of-its-kind development with 87,000 sq. ft. floor plates, large spans measuring 15 metres, fresh air architecture, central core design, 4.5-meter heights and 100 per cent daylight harvesting, a Bloom Energy release said.

Atelier plans for one megawatt of power for the development to be provided by Bloom Energy Servers running on natural gas provided by GAIL.

Developed in Silicon Valley, the Bloom Energy Server is the world's most efficient commercially available electricity generation device, the release claimed.

It produces power without combustion through an electrochemical process which generates virtually no smog-forming emissions.

Bloom Energy Servers can operate using natural gas, biogas from landfills, food or animal waste, or hydrogen as fuel, it was stated.

The Bloom Energy Server development at Whitefield Tower is the first natural gas-powered solid oxide fuel cell project in India since the launch of the US-India Gas Task Force, the release said.

The task force was established by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dhamendra Pradhan and US. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry in April 2018 to support the Indian government's goal to increase the share of natural gas in India's energy mix from 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030, it said.

"The Whitefield Tower development is a fine example of the potential of natural gas power to transform electricity generation in India," said Bhuwan Chandra Tripathi, former Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL, in the statement.

"GAIL gas has developed a robust infrastructure to deliver reliable power to customers that will support the growth of Bloom Energy in Bengaluru and neighboring areas," said A K Jana, CEO of GAIL Gas.