Vedanta Aluminium scripts a double win at the National Energy Conservation Awards 2020
14th January 2021New Delhi; January 14th, 2021: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium and value-added products, won two first prizes at the prestigious National Energy Conservation Awards 2020 (NECA 2020), for exemplary efforts in energy conservation through best-in-class practices, technology adoption and innovative solutions. Instituted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Government of India, the NECA Awards witness participation by the best in business from various critical industry sectors.
In a virtual award ceremony held on 11th January 2021, Vedanta Ltd’s Jharsuguda (Odisha) Smelter-I bagged ‘First Prize’ in Aluminium (Large) Sector while Vedanta Ltd., Lanjigarh (Odisha), was conferred with the ‘First Prize’ in Aluminium (Small) Sector. Both units have rolled out nearly 80 impactful initiatives over the past three years to scale-up energy efficiency at respective locations.
Speaking about the awards, Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd., said, “At Vedanta, we are cognizant of our responsibilities towards ensuring a responsible and sustainable business footprint as we rapidly adapt to an energy-conscious world. We regularly benchmark our energy consumption with the industry’s best and strive towards improving our specific energy consumption. Towards this, we not only improve our process energy efficiencies but also evaluate and incorporate new technologies that have the potential to provide a step change improvement in energy efficiencies. Winning the coveted National Energy Conservation Awards has bolstered our commitment to emerge as the world’s best, lowest cost, most energy efficient and sustainable aluminium producer.”
Vedanta Aluminium & Power’s business units have always been forerunners in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability. Some notable initiatives and major highlights are:
- Vedanta’s aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda is India’s first, and the world’s third smelter to deploy Digital Smelter Solution, which uses digital twin technology, predictive and prescriptive analytics to enhance energy efficiency, reduce raw material consumption and arrest wastage of material through remote advisory system.
- The Jharsuguda smelter is also the first aluminium smelter in Asia to receive ISO 50001 certificate for Energy Management System since 2013.
- Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), the iconic subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, achieved lowest specific power consumption in potlines in 2020, setting a benchmark in India.
- Reduction in indirect energy consumption by 8 million Giga Joules between FY19 and FY20 for the business.
- Vedanta’s operations have SCADA-based energy monitoring system wherein energy meters are connected to one server and reports are generated automatically. Portable flow meter and power meters have been installed to analyse load deviations.
- 100% graphitized cathode installation in Jharsuguda’s potline, resulting in energy conservation of over 49000 MWh per annum.
- Initiatives to enhance operational excellence have resulted in reduction of thermal and electrical specific energy by 20% and 24% respectively, and overall specific energy consumption by 22% over the last five years at the Lanjigarh alumina refinery.
- All business units have adopted Business Excellence models such as Six Sigma, Quality Circles, Kaizen, etc. to carry out energy conservation projects.
- The business is actively exploring renewable energy sources like solar power, biomass and biogas to potentially reduce dependence on thermal power as the primary source of energy. In FY 20, more than 115 million units of renewable power was purchased by the business for consumption.
- Against Vedanta’s commitment to reduce the GHG intensity by 16% by 2020 from a 2012 baseline, on completion of the year 2019-20, the Aluminium Business was able to reduce its GHG intensity by 20%.
- Vedanta’s ‘Carbon Forum’, comprising representatives from each of our businesses, is actively working on implementing of the company’s carbon mitigation approach.
Vedanta Aluminium & Power, a part of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, producing almost half of India’s aluminium or 1.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY20, and is also one of the largest private power producers in the country. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelters, alumina refinery and power plants spread across India, the company fulfills 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., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. 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.
