Hindalco on track to meet clean energy targets two years ahead

Hindalco Industries, through the successful completion of phase one of the pumped hydro project, plans to achieve 30% of its energy mix from renewable sources by 2030. The company plans to become net neutral on carbon by 2050.

“Once the first phase of the pumped hydro project comes on stream, we believe it would pave the way for using this technology across our smelters and achieving 30% of our energy mix from renewable sources by 2030. This and our other sustainability projects might even help us achieve our target a couple of years earlier,” added Pai.

“Last quarter we reported 19.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of aluminium and we believe in bringing it down below four, which is considered green if this pumped hydro plant works,” said Pai, who also heads the executive committee of Vikaasa, a coalition of Indian businesses to drive the achievement of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Aluminium is not found in its pure form in nature and needs to be extracted, therefore, it has been facing increased scrutiny for its energy-intensive production and refinement processes that contribute significantly to global carbon emissions. Smelting is high on carbon emissions and requires continuous power supply.

In 2022, it had signed a pact with Greenko Group to co-produce 375-400 mw of solar and wind power capacity.

“The RE project is to be set up as a captive generation facility under a 25-year offtake arrangement and will supply power to Hindalco’s Aditya Aluminium smelter in Odisha, enabling reduction of CO2 emissions by 680,000 tonnes annually,” he added.

The company further plans to enhance this, 100 MW pumped hydro, project in Odisha to 350 mw in the future, as the project will lay the foundation for the production of low-carbon, green aluminium. The company is also planning to deploy a similar solar project with pumped hydrogen for its Madhya Pradesh smelter through Aditya Birla Renewables.

Additionally, the company is utilizing 2.87 million tonnes of red mud, 100% recycled at three out of four of its alumina refineries. “84% of our waste generated is recycled and our target is to be zero waste landfill by 2030 and we are spending north to ₹400 crore in a year. We are also testing the use of red mud in road construction across India,” added Pai.

Hindalco is also running a pilot project to sequester carbon dioxide through advanced mineralization, and the company is trying to capture carbon in construction aggregates or RMC (ready-mix concrete). “Sequestering in India is hard to work out, you have to mineralize it or make it into something that does not go back into the atmosphere, but we are putting and have got quite a few projects that we are looking at different angles to progress that,” he notes.

Its overseas subsidiary, Novelis recycled 82 billion used beverage cans, amounting to 61% of the material used in production in FY23. The company is also in programmes with leading auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are projected to reduce carbon emissions by up to 100,000 tonnes per year.

The company, he said, currently deploys 25% of its ₹2,000 crore maintenance capital expenditure on sustainability projects every year.

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Published: 19 Feb 2024, 03:57 PM IST