Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd and Thermax Ltd have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a 1-MW fluidised bed biomass gasification plant.
The gasification plant to be established by Ruchi Soya at its Washim unit in Maharashtra will be executed by Thermax on the technology acquired from the Energy Research Centre and Dahlman, Netherlands.
In a statement to the stock exchanges, Ruchi Soya said the proposed gasification system would have higher conversion efficiency (higher than 95 per cent) compared with 80-85 per cent of the existing gasification systems.
It will also help in demonstrating biomass gasification technology for the generation of grid quality power.
A cumulative generation capacity of over 3,700 MW through biomass power including bagasse cogeneration has been established in India. The Ruchi Soya plant will help overcome the barriers which impede the deployment of large-scale biomass projects in India, the company said.
Mr V.K. Jain, Director (Commercial), Ruchi Soya Industries, and Dr R.R. Sonde, Executive Vice-President, Thermax, signed the MoU in the presence of Mr Gireesh B. Pradhan, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, in New Delhi.