BUILDING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES FIT FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD 32 NEW TECHNOLOGIES ADOPTED – BIGGER, BETTER & GREENER Energy plays a critical role in the overall performance of Hindalco Industries Limited. About 30-35% of the cost of production of aluminium is due to energy. Aluminium is produced from its refined ore aluminium oxide by electrolysis, which is the only commercially known process used to manufacture aluminium globally. The benefit of the process adopted is that 99.7% pure aluminium is obtained during electrolysis in a single stage process that requires a steady, uninterrupted power supply. In India, as in the western world, aluminium smelters were previously located close to hydro-electric power stations which was the source of power. However, the state electricity boards were unable to ensure the steady power supply needed. Growth of hydro-electric power in India was slow due to environmental issues and large scale displacement of people therefore the state encouraged aluminium and other power intensive consumers like steel to install their own coal based power plants due to India’s abundant coal reserves. Hindalco embarked upon its major expansion a few years ago. For sustainable growth, energy and emission were considered as key drivers for the selection of the technologies for the green field projects. Hindalco chose the best available technology for its 2 new smelters at Mahan and Aditya. Specific Energy consumption of these at 13,400 kWh/t is close to the best achieved worldwide. This translates to 30MW less power demand compared to the Renukoot smelter for equivalent metal production. Greenhouse gas emissions have also been significantly reduced with anode effect frequency below