As the global energy generation sector shifts its focus away from fossil fuels and towards alternative solutions, the waste to energy market is gaining a lot of traction. Within this segment, compressed biogas (CBG) is carving a unique niche. With India focusing on increasing the share of natural gas in the energy basket mix to about 15 percent by 2030, there is a significant push towards the development of the industry.
Financial aid, focused campaigns, and streamlining of the entire end-to-end supply chain are adding to this thrust. However, the segment is simultaneously battling issues such as inadequate feedstock supply, high operating costs, and effluent generation from the CBG plants. Dedicated to resolving all these issues and propelling the industry growth is the Pune-based Primove Engineering.
The AgroGaz Revolution
Founded in 2008, the company is prominent for its groundbreaking work in the fuel and energy sector, primarily renowned for its initiatives in the renewable energy segment that has led to the development of innovative technologies that promote the conversion of agro-residue and waste into 2G CBG for diverse applications.
The company’s flagship offering, the AgroGaz technology shines as a unique solution for its capability of utilizing various dry lignocellulosic biomass with a conversion ratio of 8:1 (biomass dry solids: CBG) - an industry first.
Moreover, this solution offers efficient co-digestion of diverse feedstocks together, amplifying its productivity by leaps and bounds. As a commercially viable and patented process which does not demand utilization of any expensive chemicals, reagents, enzymes, or 1G feedstock options like food waste or cow dung, the technology is here to disrupt the industry. Lastly, the process relies on single-stage digestion, which helps make it more profitable for investors as it significantly minimizes the project CAPEX.
“Through our AgroGaz technology, the agricultural residue can be converted to AgroGaz 2G CBG, a product that is at par with CNG and can replace fossil fuels like Petrol, Diesel, CNG and LPG. If all currently available agricultural residue is converted to AgroGaz, it can potentially substitute about half the fossil fuels imported every year,” shares Atul Akolkar, Director.
With our indigenously developed & patented AgroGaz technology, one solution can eliminate critical problems of vulnerability to global markets for importing fossil fuels, as well as residue burning which is causing pollution for India
Journey & Future
Founded by technocrats and armed with PhDs, Engineers, and experienced professionals, Primove has since its establishment been driven to introduce novel inventions that benefit the nation. The company has been spearheading the growth of the CBG industry since its inception and has made its mark as the first company in India to develop 2G CBG that adheres to the IS 16087:2016 specifications. With a strong record backing it up, the company has ambitious goals for the future.
“AgroGaz is the ‘Solution for Pollution’. Using all the available agricultural residue, there is a potential to set up 25,000 – 30,000 large-scale CBG plants across the nation. We are engaged with reputable partners and internationally recognized EPC giants. To achieve the aforementioned target of nationwide penetration, we will constantly go on adding partners to carry out EPC work. Further, we are in talks with other potential partners to take AgroGaz to a global scale,” says Atul.
For its future goals, the company anticipates the rise in prominence of Liquified Bio Methane (LBM) as an alternative to LNG (Liquified Natural Gas). Aligning its objectives with these anticipations, the firm aims to leverage its alliance with a prominent South-East Asian company to develop cryogenic systems that offer LBM Solutions. Beyond this, the company is also working on cutting-edge projects which will unfold more exciting innovations a few years down the line.
