BENGALURU: Bloom Energy, which manufactures energy servers that provide electricity, in association with real estate developer Atelier Global and GAIL India Limited, will inaugurate the Whitefield Tower in six months time, which will run entirely on natural gas.
Venkat Venkataraman, chief technology officer, Bloom Energy, said, “Our servers run on natural gas, bio-gas from landfills, hydrogen or even food and animal waste. Electricity will be generated on-site. There is no combustion, smog or CO2 released. The release of nitrogen oxide and SO2 is also negligible.”
“This will reduce consumption by 40 per cent. There will be no need for UPS’ and emissions will reduce by 60%. This is better than solar energy, as it occupies less space. Moreover, solar energy is only available at certain times of the day,” Venkatraman added.
The tower is 87,000 sq feet, with 6.9 lakh sq feet of office space, two levels for entertainment, a hotel, high-end co-working spaces, and art and exhibition spaces.
The plan is for one megawatt of power to be generated from natural gas provided by GAIL through pipelines. Tony Kunnel, principal architect at Atelier Global, said, “The construction is such that the building will be 2.5 degrees cooler and will be an inclusive space. We have been working on the project for five years.”
However, to make the project cost-effective, the three companies have also put forth some demands to the central government. Venkat said, “What we need from the government is to bring natural gas under the ambit of GST. This will help reduce the cost. Natural gas should also get tax concession and enjoy a 5 % rate on fuel cells.”
Bhuwan Chandra Tripathi, former chairman and managing director of GAIL, said that with the current tax system, 30% of the cost borne by consumers of natural gas is due to various state taxes, service taxes, transportation, and more. "Reducing custom duties for import of natural gas was another demand they have made."