SCCL saves big on power bills

Through its captive solar power plants set up at its coal mine areas, SCCL has been successful in reducing electricity bills by 35 percent.

Hyderabad: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), which has been in the forefront of reforms and innovative initiatives, is now making efforts to set an example in the usage of renewable energy and reduction of carbon emission. The company’ efforts towards transition to renewable energy has been helping it not only in saving huge power bills but also in reducing carbon emission.

Through its captive solar power plants set up at its coal mine areas, SCCL has been successful in reducing electricity bills by 35 percent. The company was spending about Rs.500 crore on power bills annually, but ever since its solar plants started generating power, the expenditure on power consumption has drastically come down by nearly Rs.200 crore.

According to Company’s chief (E&M) Power Projects, NVK Viswanadha Raju, the company’s daily power consumption stood at 2 million units, out of which 1 MU came through its captive solar plants. The company has solar plants with a total capacity of 219 at eight locations. This is out of plants with a total capacity of 300 MW planned in the first phase. Through these plants, currently 1 MU power was being generated daily and once the remaining 81 MW solar power plants start generating power, the total power generation per day would increase to 1.5 MU per day, he said.

“We are expecting the 81 MU solar plant work to be completed by the end of this year. Once these plants start generating power, the company would be saving nearly Rs.250 crore on power bills,” he said.

SCCL has a proposal to set up another 130 MW solar plant at the coal mine area once this 81 MU plant work is finished and once they start generating power, the company would not have to purchase electricity from power utilities, Viswanadha Raju said.

The excess electricity generated by solar plants was being sent to the electricity grid and utilised or adjusted to the consumption tariff as per the need, he said.

“Our aim is to become a zero carbon emission company,” he said, adding that SCCL Chairman and Managing Director N Sridhar was planning to add 800 MW units at its existing 2×600 MW thermal power plant and also another 1,500 MW solar plants in the mining areas.