Team News Riveting
Balconagar, Korba, July 12
The Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), India’s iconic aluminium producer and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium, has conserved more than 22,000 giga joules of energy in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22).
The company is taking strong strides to decarbonize its operations in line with the company’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner. With the objective of conserving energy, in FY22, BALCO reduced Specific Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) consumption at its cast houses by 10 per cent, Specific power consumption (energy used for producing a unit of product) by 15 per cent and scrap generation in Ingot Casting Machine by 20 per cent and in Wire Rod Mill by 31 per cent, thereby reducing energy used in re-melting, which is energy intensive.
Further, the company is greenifying its fuel mix for thermal power generation with biomass briquettes, which has potential for decreasing its GHG emissions by 0.43 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. Over the years, BALCO has been proactively working for environmental protection and energy conservation, which has today resulted in BALCO’s current efficiency as per the global benchmark and lowest total DC & AC power consumption in potline among the peers in Aluminium sector in India.
Speaking about BALCO’s commitment towards decarbonizing its operations in the long term, Abhijit Pati, CEO and Director, BALCO, said, “Our aluminium smelter is among the most energy efficient plants in India and we are determined to further push the benchmarks of energy efficiency to lower our carbon footprint. In our commitment towards sustainable business development, attaining highest standards of energy conservation is a critical first step, which we are realizing through deployment of cutting-edge technology, innovative solutions and judicious utilization of resources. Through such practices we aim to achieve the larger goal of creating a sustainable future for the generations to come and contribute to the expeditious development of the region and nation at large.”
Elaborating further, Vrajeshwari LLP’s employee Priyabrat Sinha, who is engaged as Site In-charge of BALCO’s Cast House said, “As an organization that is committed towards environmental sustainability, we work with the BALCO team to improve existing processes and innovate ways to reduce energy consumption, fuel consumption, and optimize energy-intensive processes. Successful implementation of energy conservation aligned endeavors, act as an impetus towards further advancing such measures.”
BALCO has received numerous prestigious awards for its dedicated efforts aligned towards energy and environment conservation. For the year 2022, BALCO has won the IMC award for benchmark performance achieved by its Potline 1 amongst Indian and Gulf smelters, under parameters like current efficiency and power consumption through implementation of best operational practices. BALCO has also been conferred with the prestigious ‘Kalinga Environment Excellence award’ in the five star category’ which recognizes the contributions made by organizations covered under various Acts & Rules of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India, Pollution Control Board and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) is India’s iconic aluminium producer. It is owned 49 per cent by the Government of India and 51 per cent by Vedanta Limited. BALCO is part of Vedanta’s Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, which is India’s largest manufacturer of aluminium. BALCO operates a 0.57 million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh. It is also a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelter and power plants, the company fulfills its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
