Ultratech To Increase Its Green Energy Share To 85% By 2030

Ultratech cements plans to use 100% renewable energy by 2030. Photo by-Freepik

The $7.9 billion Indian Cement and Ready-Mix Concrete Company–UltraTech Cement Limited today announced its plans to increase the overall share of green energy in its total energy mix to 85 percent by 2030. As an interim target, UltraTech plans to increase its total green energy share threefold from its current 22% to 60% by FY26. UltraTech is the largest grey cement firm in the world outside of China, as part of the Aditya Birla Group. 

Speaking about the development, K C Jhanwar, Managing Director (MD) of UltraTech Cement Limited, said, “As the largest cement company in the country, it is our responsibility to lead the way in building a more sustainable and green future for the industry. Green energy is a key enabler of decarbonization. We have been constantly scaling up our green energy mix in our total power requirement over the years, which is a testament to our commitment towards a clean and green tomorrow.”

UltraTech targets to meet 100% of its electricity requirement through renewables sources by 2050, as part of its RE100 commitment. As a member of EP100, UltraTech is committed to double its energy productivity. To boost the share of green energy in the overall energy mix, UltraTech has implemented several initiatives including switching to renewable energy sources and expanding Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). 

Currently, the company has 691 MW of green energy capacity, which includes 262 MW of WHRS installed capacity and 429 MW of contracted renewable energy. Cumulatively, this translates to about 22% of UltraTech’s current energy requirements.

UltraTech has adopted a very holistic approach towards reducing the use of fossil-fuels and increasing the use of green and renewable energy. This includes leveraging emerging technologies to reduce reliance on thermal energy in manufacturing operations and also driving adoption of sustainable transport with logistics partners. UltraTech has stated its intent not to invest any further in thermal power capacity, keeping in line with its objective to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase use of green energy.

Green Manufacturing

Cement being a hard-to-abate sector, technology can play a pivotal role in accelerating decarbonisation in manufacturing operations. UltraTech is constantly exploring the use of new technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of its operations. A recent example of this is UltraTech’s partnership with Coolbrook, a Finland-based transformational technology and engineering company. UltraTech is jointly developing a project to implement Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic HeaterTM (RDH) technology in one of UltraTech’s cement manufacturing units.

UltraTech is among the first industrial players to use Coolbrook’s revolutionary technology for decarbonisation of cement manufacturing process. The RDH technology uses electrification from renewable sources for the heating processes in cement production and removes the need to use fossil fuels, thus helping to accelerate the decarbonisation of cement manufacturing. UltraTech is similarly actively exploring innovative technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) in collaboration with startup technology companies such as CarbonOrO, Coomtech, and Fortera.