Further, the renewable project will be set up as a captive generation facility under a 25-year offtake arrangement and will supply power to Hindalco’s Aditya Aluminium smelter in Odisha, enabling a reduction of CO2 emissions by 680,000 tonnes annually.
It needs to be noted that aluminium smelting requires reliable and continuous power.
In its regulatory filing, Hindalco highlighted that the project will be one of the world’s first for the aluminium sector with very high (+85%) reliability from solar and wind power without dependence on grid electricity.
Also, Hindalco will emerge as the first aluminium company in India to use such RTC (round the clock) carbon-free power for smelting.
On the agreement, Satish Pai, Managing Director, Hindalco, said, "We have made climate action integral to our business and our expansion plans have been shaped by our ESG focus. The agreement with Greenko is a significant step towards reducing our carbon footprint and cementing our status as the world’s most sustainable aluminium company. We are guided by our
long-term commitment of becoming net carbon-neutral by 2050 and we are happy to partner with Greenko in this audacious journey."
Under the deal, Greenko will design, construct, partly own and operate the solar and wind facilities. Further, the company will make available appropriate storage capacity from its hydro pump storage project in Pinnapuram, Andhra Pradesh to ensure continuous power supply.
Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO and Managing Director at Greenko, said, "At Greenko, we firmly believe that clean energy sources backed with competitive and proven storage technologies like hydro pump storage project offers a competitive, reliable and sustainable alternative to consumers to support their decarbonisation journey. For instance, in this case, the RE project along with Greenko’s PSP will ensure firm and predictable supply even at individual time block level without any banking support from the grid, unprecedented for RE project globally, thereby committing very high reliability to Hindalco."
The two companies are also in discussion to execute a power purchase agreement along with the other supplementary agreements which are expected to be completed soon.
"We look forward to taking this partnership further ahead and contribute to Hindalco’s long-term commitment of becoming a net carbon-neutral company by 2050," Kumar added.
Hindalco is committed to become net carbon neutral by 2050.
Hindalco has already y invested in over 100 MW of solar and wind power over the past few years. This latest RE project will add 100 MW (RTC) of captive power and enhancement of the same to up to 350 MW of round-the-clock carbon-free energy shall be explored in the future.
On BSE, Hindalco shares are trading at ₹435.30 apiece down by 1.08% at around 2.30 pm. The company's market valuation is around ₹97,639.76 crore.
