UltraTech intends to triple its overall green energy share from its present 22 per cent to 60 per cent by FY26 as an interim measure 

Today, UltraTech Cement declared that it intends to raise the proportion of green energy in its overall energy mix to 85 per cent by 2030. UltraTech intends to triple its overall green energy share from its present 22 per cent to 60 per cent by FY26 as an interim measure.

 “As the largest cement company in the country, it is our responsibility to lead the way in building a more sustainable and green future for the industry. Green energy is a key enabler of decarbonisation. We have been constantly scaling up our green energy mix in our total power requirement over the years, which is a testament to our commitment towards a clean and green tomorrow,” said K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement , while speaking about the development.

UltraTech targets to meet 100 per cent of its electricity requirement through renewables sources by 2050, as part of its RE100 commitment. As a member of EP100, The company is committed to double its energy productivity. To boost the share of green energy in the overall energy mix, it has implemented several initiatives including switching to renewable energy sources and expanding Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). Currently, the Company has 691 MW of green energy capacity, which includes 262 MW of WHRS installed capacity and 429 MW of contracted renewable energy. Cumulatively, this translates to about 22 per cent of its  current energy requirements.

UltraTech is  leveraging emerging technologies to reduce reliance on thermal energy in manufacturing operations and also driving adoption of sustainable transport with logistics partners. The company has stated its intent not to invest any further in thermal power capacity, keeping in line with its objective to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase use of green energy.

Green Manufacturing 

Cement being a hard-to-abate sector, technology can play a pivotal role in accelerating decarbonisation in manufacturing operations. UltraTech is constantly exploring the use of new technologies to accelerate the decarbonisation of its operations. A recent example of this is UltraTech’s partnership with Coolbrook, a Finland-based transformational technology and engineering company. The company is jointly developing a project to implement Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic HeaterTM (RDH) technology in one of UltraTech’s cement manufacturing units.

UltraTech is among the first industrial players to use Coolbrook’s revolutionary technology for decarbonisation of cement manufacturing process. The RDH technology uses electrification from renewable sources for the heating processes in cement production and removes the need to use fossil fuels, thus helping to accelerate the decarbonisation of cement manufacturing. UltraTech is similarly actively exploring innovative technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in collaboration with startup technology companies such as CarbonOrO, Coomtech and Fortera.

Sustainable Transport 

In addition to reducing the carbon footprint of its own operations, UltraTech is working with its partners to accelerate decarbonisation across its value chain. Logistics is a key business driver for the cement industry helping to ensure easy availability of products for consumers. However, logistics also adds significantly to the carbon footprint of the cement industry given the reliance on fossil fuels for transport in this segment.

UltraTech is among one of the first cement companies in India to introduce ‘Green Logistics’ in the form of CNG / LNG trucks. It is committed to enabling sustainable transport and has pledged to deploy 500 electric trucks and add 1000 CNG / LNG vehicles in the 40 Tonne category in its operations, by June 2025 as part of the Government of India’s eFAST initiative. Towards this objective, UltraTech is engaging with its logistics partners for the deployment of CNG and LNG trucks to replace conventional diesel vehicles wherever possible.

The company has first introduced CNG vehicles in its operations in 2021 and LNG vehicles in 2022. Through concerted efforts with logistic partners, it today has more than 390 CNG trucks & 50 LNG trucks operational across 17 manufacturing units. The company is looking to scale up this initiative rapidly to other manufacturing locations.