Earth Day: Vedanta Aluminium accelerates shift to renewables, deploys biomass for power generation

22nd April 2024

It could decrease GHG emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually

New Delhi, 22 April, 2024: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, is making its fuel mix more sustainable with the deployment of biomass briquettes for power generation. The company is now utilizing 20 tonnes of biomass briquettes per day at its world-class alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha. This will help potentially decrease the unit’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year, in addition to reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. On the occasion of Earth Day 2024, this comes as a significant step forward in the company’s journey to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2050 or sooner.

The biomass briquettes are made from agricultural residue sourced from local farmers, who would otherwise simply burn it leading to severe environmental pollution. While fostering circular economy, Vedanta Aluminium is also augmenting farmers’ incomes in their areas of operations through this initiative by remunerating farmers for their crop stubble. A similar initiative has been rolled out previously at BALCO, India’s iconic aluminium producer and a unit of Vedanta Aluminium based at Korba, Chhattisgarh. Further, the company has entered into long-term power delivery agreements to source 1335 MW of renewable energy to power its operations nation-wide.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Pranab Kumar Bhattacharyya, CEO – Alumina Business, Vedanta Ltd said, “As India works towards integrating cleaner and more sustainable energy systems, the strategic deployment of biomass co-firing within our operations can play a crucial role in achieving emission reduction goals and supporting rural economies. It forms a critical part of our strategy to evaluate emerging technologies towards decarbonising our operations.”

On the occasion of Earth Day, the company organised focused awareness sessions for farmers at Jharsuguda, Odisha, under the aegis of its development project, Jeevika Samriddhi, which aims to boost income generation through more efficient methods of farming. The sessions offered insights into the preparation and usage of organic fertilisers for integrated nutrient and pest management. In addition, the company also organised a Waste to Wealth-themed model competition for children. It was an opportunity for the future stewards of the planet to showcase their innovative use of recyclable materials, such as old cloth, plastic utensils, carboard pieces and even coconut shells.

The company has also conducted trial runs of biodiesel as a ‘green’ fuel alternative for its fleet of commercial vehicles. In addition, it is the first to induct a 10-ton electric forklift within its operations, adding to India’s largest fleet of electric lithium-ion forklifts deployed at its plants in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Vedanta Aluminium has committed to decarbonizing 100% of its Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) fleet by 2030, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which focusses on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy and SDG 13, which aims to limit and adapt to climate change.

Vedanta Aluminium has committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050, adopting a two-fold strategy of reducing it carbon footprint by increasing operational excellence and increasing renewables in its energy mix, while also offsetting its carbon footprint through extensive afforestation efforts. Through its operations, the company is enabling wider global access to responsibly produced, high-quality aluminium to ensure a greener future for the planet. The key milestones achieved by the company in this journey are:

Reducing GHG emissions intensity by ~8% in FY23 over the FY21 baseline while increasing production by ~16%
Recycling over 15 billion litres of water across its operations during FY24
Achieving a noteworthy 11% reduction in water withdrawal from freshwater sources
Significant freshwater usage savings of 1.5 million cubic meters
Doubling waste utilization to 200% in FY23, boosting circular economy avenues
Collaborating on over 60 rural community water bodies restoration projects

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.

About Vedanta Limited:

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com

About Vedanta Aluminium Business:

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Disclaimer:

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “should” or “will.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

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