Vedanta Aluminium will source 380 MW green power to achieve Net Zero by 2050

Vedanta Aluminium, one of India’s largest producers of aluminium, has confirmed plans to source 380 MW of green power on a long-term basis for its smelters. Charting its roadmap to Net Zero by 2050, the green power is going to reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15,00,000 tonnes CO2 equivalent every year.

Released by the company, a statement quotes Vedanta CEO, aluminium business, Rahul Sharma as saying, “This 380 MW renewable energy power delivery agreement for our aluminium smelters stands true to our mission of aligning the incentives of growth with the imperatives for the planet,”.

The statement further reads that 180 MW of this Renewable Energy (RE) will be for the aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda in Odisha, and 200 MW for the Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) at Korba, in Chhattisgarh.

This will be carried out through a power delivery agreement between Vedanta Ltd and Special Purpose Vehicles – affiliates of Sterlite Power Technologies Pvt Ltd (SPTPL).

Vedanta Aluminium is working on a three pronged-approach to decarbonise its operations – increasing the quantum of renewable energy in its energy mix, bolstering operational efficiencies to reduce energy consumption, and rapidly transitioning to cleaner fuels and technologies.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that high intensity energy consumption firms like Aluminium smelters will need to do far more to make their operations cleaner and greener. A target of 2050 for net zero would not be considered ambitious at all in many markets now, and there is every chance that this target will have to be brought forward soon. Along with possible mandates to compulsorily use green hydrogen for instance, probably as early as 2025.

With the metals market riding much higher prices for a period now, and demand set to remain steady, the onus is on major metals producers like Vedanta to go beyond doing the bare minimum to stay on the right side of history.