Suman Mukherjee, Managing Director and
CEO – India, Shree Digvijay Cement,Votorantim Cimentos
EAA .
As a member of CSI companies, with WHR and
various other energy- saving measures already in place and plans for AFR
underway, we look forward as befits an energy-efficient and carbon-
positive company in the industry,’ says Suman Managing Director and CEO
India, Sree Digvijay Cement,Votorantim Cimentos EAA .In an
exclusive interview with ICR, Mukherjee spells out the sustainability
initiatives taken by the company.
How do
you look at the sustainability issuesin the cement industry in terms of
energy efficiency, environment protection, CO2 reduction,
etc?
Though the Indian cement industry is one of the
most efficient in the world, it still produced 137 mt of CO2 in 2010 –
approximately 7 per cent of India’s total man-made CO2 emissions. The
Indian cement industry has made strong efforts to reduce its carbon
footprint. It has successfully reduced CO2 emission from 1.12 T CO2 per
tonne cement in 1996 to 0.719 T CO2/T cement in 2010. Key levers to
reduce emission in the Indian cement industry are increased rates of
blending leading to a reduction in clinker to cement ratio, increased
use of AFR, widespread implementation of WHR, transportation of raw
materials through conveyor belt instead of road transport, installation
of various VFD/high energy- efficient equipment to reduce SPC. In line
with this, a low-carbon technology roadmap for the Indian cement
industry was launched on 25th February, 2013 with a targeted estimated
emission of 0.35 T CO2/t cement in 2050, about 45 per cent reduction
from its level in 2010. Cement manufacturing process from surface
mining/quarrying, more usage of WHR, locating main clinkerisation unit
near limestone deposits, transporting clinker through rail, transporting
fly ash through pipeline are a few measures which will help in
achieving and sustaining this targets.
What
is SDCC Cement’s stated goal on
sustainability?
SDCCL, a wholly-owned Votorantim
group company, is one of the member companies of CSI in developing a low
carbon roadmap for the Indian cement industry. We have already
commissioned the WHR system in our plant. We are working on AFR, we are
following surface mining at the quarry. We have a very strict target on
reducing specific energy consumption. In line with that, we have
installed various VFD/high energy efficient equipment to achieve that.
The technical centre from the group is supporting various countries
worldwide to reduce energy consumption. We are also part of the PAT
scheme. To achieve our set targets in PAT, we are working on various
fronts of SEC reduction.
What are you doing
towards reducing your carbon footprint through WHR
systems?
We have installed and commissioned the WHR
system in our plant. This utilises the waste heat/flue gas from
kiln/pre-heater/DG sets/cooler, to generate power. This flue gas is
utilised to generate steam inside boiler which in turn, is utilised to
rotate turbine for power generation. This is a very useful system to get
carbon credit emission as well as to reduce power costs. This also
reduces usage of DG sets/grid power which reduces CO2
emission.
How green is SDCC Cement’s
operation, from mining to production and despatch of
cement?
We use surface miner in mining operations. We
have installed a zero- leakage damper at raw mill inlet, replaced raw
mill six cyclones, improved sealing arrangements in rotary air locks,
replaced raw mill outlet ducts, expansions of point cloth, provided step
chute instead of belt conveyor, optimised overall process for increased
output and reduced SPC. We have also installed VFD across various
stages in the process to reduce energy consumption. We are increasing
fly ash percentage addition in PPC, thus improving overall
cement-to-clinker ratio. We have taken several CAPEX to reduce CO2
emission and also taking various measures to stop DG usage.
Tell us about the advantages of the PAT scheme
?
PAT is the energy conservation drive launched by
BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) under National Mission for Enhanced
Energy Efficiency. Base line figures are average of the past three years
(2007-08, 2008-09 & 2009-10). Target has been given by BEE to
reduce from baseline figures in a span of three years, starting April,
2012 and ending March, 2015. PAT (Perform- Achieve-Trade) is applicable
for energy intensive industries. It covers 563 designated consumers in 8
sectors. The energy specific improvement target would have to be unit
specific. Each Designated Consumers (DC) is mandated to reduce its
special energy consumption (SEC) by a fixed percentage based on its
current SEC (or baseline SEC) within the sectorial bandwidth. In the
Indian scenario, if we look at it percentage- wise, on an average, 40
per cent energy is consumed by industry, 7 per cent by agriculture and
fisheries, 43 per cent commercial and services, 10 per cent household
and others. This PAT scheme is participated by designated consumers of
energy intensive sectors-thermal power plant/iron and
steel/cement/fertilizer/textile/pulp and paper/chloro-alkali. SDCC is a
member of PAT scheme. We have taken various energy savings measure to
achieve our targets. At the end of the third year, energy saving
certificate will be issued to a DC, who will achieve target reduction
from baseline. DC who will fail to achieve the target, penalty linked
with value of non compliance will be imposed. This ES Certificate can be
traded to others who fail to meet their target. This trading can be
carried out between any two DCs. The exchange will also maintain data on
traded prices, traded volume and trend. Special trading platforms will
be created in the two Power Exchanges (IEX and PXIL). This scheme will
be very effective across the industry. It is directly linked with
profitability in the long term; it will help in reducing costs and
improving profitability.
How do you assess
the challenges on the logistics front?
After increase
of rail freight, rail dispatch becomes costlier. The recent increase in
fuel price has also increased the road freight cost. Because of subdued
demand, prices are crashing as a result EBITDA and profit margin are
under huge pressure. Transportation of raw materials through conveyor
belt wherever possible, transportation of fly ash through pipeline, coal
import through sea route (we have a captive jetty), dispatch through
rail, are initiatives which will reduce input cost as well as reduce CO2
emission to improve our carbon footprint.