New Delhi: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium and value-added products, swept five awards at the prestigious 21st National Award for Excellence in Energy Management, held from 25-28th August 2020 in a virtual conclave and ceremony. Vedanta Aluminium won in the following categories:
Vedanta Ltd., Lanjigarh, was conferred with ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award for deploying processes that significantly improved energy efficiency in alumina refinery.
BALCO received ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ as well as ‘Innovative Project’ award for its best practices and breakthrough innovation in energy management.
Both smelters of Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda, were adjudged as ‘Energy Efficient Unit’ for streamlining and reducing energy consumption through sustained process improvements.
Instituted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the award aims to catalyze innovation and adoption of practices for boosting energy efficiency of organizations, facilitating sustainable and energy-efficient growth of the Indian industry. In this edition of the award, more than 250 organizations hailing from different industry sectors like metal, power, cement, engineering, paper, automation, etc. had participated, of whom only 154 were selected for the jury round. Among the finalists, Vedanta Aluminium emerged as a significant contender in the ‘metals’ segment winning five coveted awards.
Speaking about the award, Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO-Aluminium & Power, Vedanta Ltd., said, “These awards stand testimony to our persistent efforts in pushing the benchmarks of energy performance across our operations. It is our constant endeavor to adopt smart technologies to make our operations more efficient and sustainable in line with our ethos of zero harm, zero waste, zero discharge. As we produce top quality aluminium, the green metal, to boost India’s self-reliance in sectors of critical importance – from space exploration to rural electrification, we are also committed to emerge as the most energy efficient aluminium producer globally, fulfilling our responsibility towards creating a more sustainable world.”
Vedanta Aluminium’s business units have always been forerunners in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability. Some notable initiatives of the company include:
Vedanta’s smelter at Jharsuguda is India’s first, and the world’s third smelter to deploy Digital Smelter Solution using digital twin technology, which enhances energy efficiency, reduces raw material consumption and arrests wastage of material through remote advisory system.
Vedanta is also in the process of deploying advanced data analytics technologies in its power plants by incorporating both predictive and prescriptive analytics to enhance energy efficiency and improve sustainability of operations and reduce wastage and safety risks with minimal or zero human touch.
Online and continuous Environment Monitoring Systems with real-time data acquisition and monitoring to ensure that parameters like ambient air quality, etc. remain well within stipulated norms.
Continuous Ambient Air Quality monitoring systems in and around the plant premises.
First in the country to install Hybrid Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) with bag filters in captive power plants to reduce particulate emission.
Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) augmented with Ultra-Filtration and Reverse Osmosis (UF & RO) systems to ensure 100% treatment of water, which is then recycled and reused for various purposes in the plants.
The company is exploring renewable energy solutions like solar power and biomass to potentially reduce dependence on thermal power as the primary source of energy. Currently, Vedanta’s aluminium smelters, power plants and alumina refinery are among India’s leading energy efficient manufacturing units.
Extensive digitalization of processes for paperless operations.
Waste-to-wealth initiatives like fostering local fly-ash brick-making enterprises, laying fly-ash roads, reclamation of low-lying areas with fly-ash followed by plantation, etc.
Mr. Abutar Khan, Site In-charge – Siemens Ltd., Vedanta’s business partner for operation and maintenance of various sections in the Jharsuguda plant, says, “Siemens works in partnership with Vedanta to ensure that its smelters, power plants, cast houses and other assets operate with high standards of energy efficiency. To that end, we always strive for better performance, streamlining our processes that are benchmarked against global best practices.”
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, power plants and alumina refinery spread across India, the company fulfills its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
