Dalmia Cement Bharat Increases Solar Capacity to 17 MW

The Rs 10510 crore turnover (2020-21) Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited (DCBL), an Indian cement manufacturer and a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited, has increased its ground-mounted solar power plant capacity to 17.1MW (from 2.4MW in 2014), in Cuttack, Odisha.

Spread over 49 acres, the solar power plant is expected to generate 25.52 MU/PA, to be utilized for the energy requirements of its Kapilas Cement Manufacturing Works (KCMW), Odisha.

The 17.1 MW plant aims to reduce KCMW Cuttack plant’s day-time power requirement dependency on fossil fuels by over 40 percent and replace it with a clean, emissions-free, and renewable energy source.

“We see the solar power plant expansion at our KCMW plant in Cuttack as providing the right impetus for our endeavors to continually adopt the cleanest and most economical fuel. We are confident that this move will help bolster DCBL’s sustainability target of RE100 by 2030 as we march towards taking our overall installed cement capacity to 110 -130 million tonnes by 2031,” said Ganesh Jirkuntwar, National Manufacturing Head of Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited.

The project was executed in two and a half months and is expected to reduce conventional power consumption by 27 percent. Power consumption from the solar plant is expected to ensure seamless production at the KCW, Cuttack plant, especially during emergencies such as preventive maintenance or breakdowns.

Bhavesh Wala, Plant Head at Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, KCMW (Cuttack), said, “By shifting to solar power and other renewable energy sources at our facility, we are progressively reducing our overall carbon footprint while meeting our sustainability commitments and heading towards RE100 by 2030. This will also enable us to meet our capacity expansion plans over the years for which we see a balanced energy mix as a key advantage.”

Dalmia Bharat claims to have reduced its carbon footprint by 22 percent in the last decade while growing three times to double its profitability. The company aims to becoming carbon negative by 2040.

As we have been saying regularly at SaurEnergy, those ambitions are too modest for an industry sector as energy intensive as cement. Consider the fact that power and fuel costs for the firm, at Rs 1672 crores in 2020-21, are the second biggest expense item after Freight. With country level initiatives targeting 2035, 2040 as net zero targets, there is a strong case for corporates to push way harder to become carbon neutral. 2040 is simply kicking the can down the road.