19 new compressed biogas plants promised by Indraprastha Gas (IGL)

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) inked memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with two technology collaborators at India Energy Week 2024, with plans to establish 19 compressed biogas (CBG) plants across four states of India. IGL held that it will develop the biogas plants in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Just recently, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri held that UP will be developing 100 more biogas plants in near future.

Moreover, IGL has already enlisted two additional partners for the same endeavor. The biogas generated from these 19 facilities will be integrated into IGL’s city gas distribution (CGD) network.

These MoUs were formalized in the presence of Praveen Mal Khanooja, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG); K.K. Chatiwal, Managing Director of IGL; Pawan Kumar, Director (Commercial) of IGL; alongside other senior officials and members of the media.

The nation’s foremost city gas distribution entity IGL anticipates the compressed biogas plants to be operational within the next 12-18 months. This initiative underscores the government’s emphasis on developing biofuel infrastructure in India, aligning with its push for alternative energy sources. In a bid to bolster the biogas sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pledged financial support for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery in the interim budget that is aimed at supporting the biogas development in the country.

IGL’s collaborative efforts aim to yield 0.45 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic meters per day) of biogas from waste, amounting to roughly 5 percent of IGL’s daily requirements.

Last year, Delhi Municipal Corporation signed an MoU with IGL for the development of compressed biogas plant (CBG) and integrated CBG-CNG plant on a land parcel of three acres on Ghogha Dairy. This would be created under Solid Waste Management Rules to generate 4000kg every day from about100 tonnes of biomethane per day.

Before that, the Corporation had also signed an agreement with IGL to a waste to energy plant under the SATAT scheme that envisages setting up of 5000 CBG plants by 2023-24 with production target of 15 MMTPA.