Jenbacher Biogas Engines Power Methane-to-Energy Plant in India

New Delhi, India [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] A GE Energy Jenbacher biogas engine is powering a demonstration cattle manure-methane cogeneration plant at a dairy complex in Punjab, India, helping to address the region’s mounting energy and environmental needs.

The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) installed and commissioned this demonstration power generation facility based on the biomethanation process of cow manure in an effort to reduce the facility’s greenhouse gas emissions (methane has 21 times the greenhouse warming potential as carbon dioxide) and to prevent the improper disposal of the animal wastes. Since late 2004, GE’s 1-MW Jenbacher biogas cogeneration system has supported the model waste-to-energy conversion plant at the Haebowal dairy complex in the city of Ludhiana. The 50-acre complex, one of two centralized cattle facilities in Ludhiana, serves 1,490 dairy operations that own 150,000 head of cattle, generating 2,500 tons of manure daily. GE’s Jenbacher demonstration project uses the biogas with high methane content created during the anaerobic digestion of 235 tons of cow manure per day to generate electricity and thermal power (hot water). Surplus energy after meeting the plant auxiliary requirements from the engine is sold to the local grid of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), while water heated by the engine is used to assist the fermentation process in the digester. In addition to the energy and thermal output of the plant, remnants from the digester process are used as fertilizer by local farmers. “Expanding the recycling of cow manure for energy and fertilizer, while simultaneously improving our air and water quality,” said Shri M.P. Singh, Senior Project Manager of PEDA, “is clearly within our mission to promote a sustainable energy future. We are increasingly looking for possibilities of establishing more such plants in the state of Punjab.”