Economy & Market

With WHRS, power requirement can be reduced by about 20-25per cent

Published

12 years ago

August 31, 2014

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O P Puranmalka Managing Director, UltraTech Cement

UltraTech a leader in cement industry has made considerable investments in captive power generation. Apart from generating power from coal fired captive plants, the company satiates a large portion of its power demand through renewable sources. O P Puranmalka elaborates on some of the initiatives in an interaction with ICR. Excerpts from the interview.

What is your current requirement of power and how much of it is met through captive power production?
Our pan-India presence with 12 integrated plants, 12 grinding units and five bulk terminals demands a focused approach towards captive power production to meet our requirements. Our captive power plants with a combined capacity of 707 MW and Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS) based power plants with a capacity of 55 MW ensure smooth and efficient operations at our units.

We have further extended the wheeling of power to some of our cement grinding units. These measures have resulted in UltraTech being able to meet over 80 per cent of its power consumption through captive sources.

Are you using renewable resources for power generation?
In our quest to explore more options for reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, our unit at Awarpur Cement Works has installed 6 solar arrays in a parallel combination through channel partner Tata BP Solar. The Awarpur unit constitutes an ideal location for a solar power plant installation because it has sufficient shadow-free land area. In addition, the intensity and clarity of light rays in the area are optimal to generate maximum power through the installation of solar arrays. Since 2009, a wind farm has been installed at our Reddipalayam unit. In 2013-14, we generated 2.9 million units from solar power panels and 2.05 million units from wind power.

Brief us about the latest investments made in the captive power generation at your plant.
UltraTech recently invested in brownfield capacity expansion projects in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. These projects include commissioning a clinkerisation plant of 3.3 MT capacity at Rawan Cement Works, Chhattisgarh; a clinkerisation plant of 3.3 MT capacity at Rajashree Cement Works, Karnataka; grinding unit of 1.6 MT capacity at Hotgi, Maharashtra; grinding unit of 1.6 MT capacity at Jharsuguda, Orissa, and grinding unit of 1.5 MT capacity at Rajashree Cement Works, Karnataka.

Further, UltraTech acquired an integrated unit and a grinding unit from Jaypee Cement in Gujarat in June 2014. The integrated plant at Sewagram and grinding unit at Wanakbori in Gujarat together have added 4.8 million tonnes to our capacity, taking our installed capacity to 62 million tonnes.

Recently, UltraTech commissioned captive power plants incorporating latest technologies at three location; Rawan Cement Works in Chhattisgarh 1 x 30 MW, Rajashree Cement Works at Karnataka 2 x 25 MW, and Andhra Pradesh Cement Works 1 x 25 MW (commissioned) + 1 x 25 MW (commissioned).

The two captive power plants at our Sewagram Cement Works plant include a total capacity of 57.5 MW (CPP-I: 35 MW and CPP-II: 22.5 MW). The power requirement of the plant is around 57 MW. The plant also has a standby source of power of around 35 MW.

As part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint, UltraTech Cement commissioned a Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS) producing 13.2 MW of electricity at Awarpur Cement Works in Maharashtra. UltraTech also has a 3.5 MW waste heat recovery plant operational at Andhra Pradesh Cement Works, Tadipatri. We are in the process of installing a WHRS at Rawan Cement Works in Chhattisgarh, Aditya Cement Works in Rajasthan, and Rajashree Cement Works in Karnataka. Post the commissioning of these three plants, UltraTech Cement will be the leader in WHRS in India with a combined capacity of 55 MW. With WHRS, power requirement can be reduced by about 20-25 per cent of total requirement for cement manufacturing. The cost of electrical power for the cement plant gets reduced to a considerable extent.

Are you facing any issues in availability of the raw materials of appropriate quality/price or any kind of logistical challenges?
Majority of our products originate from minerals extracted from quarries, such as limestone, gypsum rock and clay. We have made the use of alternative materials a strategic priority in order to reduce the consumption of natural resources and to extend the life of the quarries.

One of the raw materials used in the manufacture of cement is gypsum. Gypsum can be sourced naturally from quarries or from chemical gypsum, which is a by-product of the process used to treat flue gas from fuel or coal-fired power plants. Chemical gypsum generated during this process is an industrial waste, and depositing it in landfills could be toxic to the environment.

This chemical gypsum is now being used as a part replacement of natural gypsum in cement manufacturing at UltraTech, resulting in effective use of industrial waste as an alternative to a natural raw material, a step ahead in our sustainability journey.

India has huge potential to tap solar and wind energy. What can be done to ensure that these resources are utilised effectively?
After the two oil shocks that our country suffered in the 1970s, a lot of interest has been evinced in new and renewable forms of energy. Solar and wind energy with their "clean energy" tag have received their fair share of research and investment. At the end of last calendar year, it is estimated that India had 20,140 MW of wind power and 2,200 MW of solar power. These numbers are low considering that India generates over 967 TWh (Terra Watt-hour) of energy from non-renewable sources. To give a push to renewable energy sector in the country, we need friendly policies that will incentivise businesses to invest in such forms of thinking. We also need innovative ideas, plans and the will to implement them, even on a pilot basis. For example, the offshore wind farm is one such idea. Our country is blessed with a lot of sunshine and geographical areas like the Thar desert that lend itself to solar power generation.

With governmental will, access to suitable capital and cost effective distribution policies, there is good opportunity to become a world leader in this space, especially as there are still about 300 million people in India who have no access to electricity.

Economy & Market

TSR Will Define Which Cement Companies Win India’s Net-Zero Race

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2026

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Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.

According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.

Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The Regulatory Push Is Real

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.

Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian Waste Is a Different Engineering Problem

Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.

The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a Made-in-India Answer

At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.

Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.

Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The Investment Case Is Now

The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.

The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.

The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.

The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About The Author

Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

2 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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The World Cement Association (WCA) has announced SiloConnect as its newest associate corporate member, expanding its network of technology providers supporting digitalisation in the cement industry. SiloConnect offers smart sensor technology that provides real-time visibility of cement inventory levels at customer silos, enabling producers to monitor stock remotely and plan deliveries more efficiently. The solution helps companies move from reactive to proactive logistics, improving delivery planning, operational efficiency and safety by reducing manual inspections. The technology is already used by major cement producers such as Holcim, Cemex and Heidelberg Materials and is deployed across more than 30 countries worldwide.

Concrete

TotalEnergies and Holcim Launch Floating Solar Plant in Belgium

Published

2 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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TotalEnergies and Holcim have commissioned a floating solar power plant in Obourg, Belgium, built on a rehabilitated former chalk quarry that has been converted into a lake. The project has a generation capacity of 31 MW and produces around 30 GWh of renewable electricity annually, which will be used to power Holcim’s nearby industrial operations. The project is currently the largest floating solar installation in Europe dedicated entirely to industrial self-consumption. To ensure minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, more than 700 metres of horizontal directional drilling were used to connect the solar installation to the electrical substation. The project reflects ongoing collaboration between the two companies to support industrial decarbonisation through renewable energy solutions and innovative infrastructure development.