On Akshay Urja Diwas, Vedanta Aluminium accelerates industry transition to renewables
19th August 2023
- It has signed agreements to source 1335 MW of renewable energy to power its operations
New Delhi;19th August 2023: On the occasion of Akshay Urja Diwas, Vedanta Aluminium reiterates its commitment to further diversifying its power portfolio with renewable energy (RE) and sustainable alternates such as biofuels. Towards fulfilling this aim, the company has entered into long-term power delivery agreements to source over 1335 MW of renewable energy. This will comprise a mix of both solar and wind energy, which will together contribute to powering Vedanta Aluminium’s operations across Odisha and Chhattisgarh. It will also result in a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of ~3.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year, significantly contributing to Vedanta’s decarbonization efforts.
Akshay Urja Diwas is a special initiative commenced in 2004 by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. It encourages the wider adoption of renewable energy sources through technological innovation and decentralised power production. This encompasses several forms of renewable energy, comprising solar, wind, hydro and biofuels.
Vedanta Aluminium is also actively exploring the use of biofuels in its energy mix. The company has undertaken the usage of biomass pellets and briquettes produced from agriculture residue across its operations, including at BALCO (Chhattisgarh), India’s iconic aluminium producer and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium, Jharsuguda (Odisha) home to one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, and Lanjigarh (Odisha), location of the company’s world-class alumina refinery. Over the past two years, since the company has successfully piloted biofuel use at its expansive power operations, Vedanta Aluminium has utilised 11.29 KT of biofuels, leading to reduction of 16.07 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
This effort contributes to diversifying its energy mix while also acting as a viable alternate fuel in case of conventional fuel shortages. Further, it provides an added impetus to boosting farmers’ incomes by encouraging circular economy through the gainful utilisation of crop residue, which is otherwise disposed of through stubble burning.
Focused on achieving Net Zero by 2050, Vedanta Aluminium is working on a three-pronged approach towards decarbonizing its operations (i) increasing the quantum of renewable energy in its energy mix (ii) bolstering operational efficiencies to reduce energy consumption, and (iii) rapidly transitioning to low carbon, cleaner fuels and technologies.
The company’s shift towards renewable energy as an essential part of its power portfolio, has also enabled product innovation. Vedanta Aluminium is the first in India to offer low carbon, ‘green’ aluminium, branded Restora and Restora Ultra, for its global customer base, many of whom are focused on ensuring the sustainable provenance of their materials. Notably, the company was also India’s largest industrial consumer of renewable energy in FY22, having procured nearly 3 billion units.
Vedanta Aluminium has achieved several milestones in its continuous journey to conserve energy and reduce its carbon footprint:
- Successfully conserved over 1.36 million GJ (gigajoules) of energy in FY23
- Commissioned India’s largest fleet of lithium-ion battery-powered EV forklifts that will lead to a potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually
- Reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 24% in FY 2022, from the 2012 baseline while increasing production by eight times over the same period
- Committed to decarbonizing 100% of its Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) fleet by 2030 and 75% of its mining fleet by 2035.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its 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:
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.
For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com
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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.
