New Delhi, June 3 (IANS): Natural gas company GAIL India and Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), here on Wednesday, for development of 'trigeneration' projects in India.

"Under the MOU, GAIL and EESL shall jointly undertake studies and if found viable, 50:50 joint venture will be incorporated for undertaking trigeneration projects," EESL said in a statement.

They aim at building a closer strategic partnership by jointly exploring business opportunities in 'trigeneration' segment in India.

"There is a significant market potential for trigeneration projects in India, particularly small industrial & commercial sectors and office buildings. As trigeneration business is at an initial stage, the collaboration would enable GAIL to take the first-mover advantage similar to its city gas business," said Manoj Jain, CMD of GAIL.

It would also push gas usage in new applications is in line with GAIL's Strategy 2030, he said and added, the strategic partnership between GAIL and EESL was a win-win situation for both the companies.

The 'trigeneration' or 'combined cooling, heat and power' project involves natural gas-fired generators to produce electricity. Under this, the waste heat from fuel gas is recovered to produce steam, which is used for heating and also in absorption chillers for cooling.