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Renewable energy could save small steelmakers Rs 2.4 crore annually

Renewable energy could save small steelmakers Rs 2.4 crore annually
Renewable power could save small steelmakers up to Rs 2.4 crore a year: Study · financialexpress.com

Small steel factories in India use a lot of electricity to make steel, and electricity is one of their biggest costs.

A new study says these factories could save up to Rs 2.4 crore a year by using clean energy like solar or wind power.

Clean energy also creates less pollution, which is good for the planet.

India is one of the biggest polluters in the world, and steel factories are responsible for a large part of that pollution.

The study says factories could team up and share a solar or wind farm, which makes clean power cheaper and less risky for each company.

Right now, only about 11 out of every 100 small steel factories use renewable power.

Switching is hard because it costs a lot of money, the government rules are complicated, and some places do not have good power lines.

In Gujarat, factory owners are sometimes told to cut their solar power production because the electricity grid cannot handle it.

If factories switch to clean energy, they could also avoid taxes that Europe charges on polluting steel.

So switching to renewable power would help steel factories save money and help keep the air cleaner.

Key facts

Report
'Powering India's Secondary Steel Transition' (released August 12)
Publishers
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), WWF-India, Climate Catalyst, JMK Research
Potential annual savings per unit
Rs 2.2–2.4 crore ($250,000–$275,000), up to 34% of power costs
Small producers' share of India's crude steel
Nearly 40%
Electricity's share of operating costs
Up to 40%
Renewable power usage
About 11% of small steelmakers vs roughly 22% of India's overall electricity mix
India's carbon emissions
About 8.2% of global emissions; steel accounts for 12% of India's total
India's net-zero target
2070, announced by PM Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021

Quotes

Prabhakar Sharma

Senior researcher at JMK Research

“"A cluster-based approach can fundamentally change how small steelmakers access renewable energy. Aggregating demand through industrial associations makes projects more bankable, enables optimal plant sizing and reduces the investment risk borne by any single unit."”
financialexpress.com
“"The companies are ready to change and have realized that, to maintain profits, they could try to shift to renewable electricity."”
financialexpress.com

Sources

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