Displaying items by tag: Solar power

Chile: Utility firm Colbun has begun construction of a 9.9MW captive solar photovoltaic plant for Cementos Polpaico’s Cerro Blanco cement plant in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Colbun and Polpaico Soluciones hailed it as the largest solar self-consumption project in Chile.

The Cerro Blanco solar farm will occupy 12 hectares in the Tiltil commune. It will consist of 15,000 bifacial solar modules mounted on trackers for optimal power generation, with a production output estimated at approximately 21.5GWh/yr.

Colbun’s energy services unit Colbun Soluciones by Efizity will build and operate the solar farm. The companies expect the self-consumption system to commence operation during the first half of 2024. It will complement Polpaico’s existing supply of renewable power, which it has received from Colbun under a long-term agreement since 2018.

India: Solar power plant developer Oriana Power has received a US$4.2m order to supply a solar power plant to a cement producer in Rajasthan. The supplier says that it will build a 7MW ground-mounted array at the site of cement plant belonging to the producer. The engineering, procurement and construction will take until the end of January 2024.

India: UltraTech Cement has concluded an agreement to buy a 26% stake in renewable power provider VEH Radiant Energy. UltraTech Cement says that VEH Radiant Energy will help it to increase its reliance on renewable power in its operations.

Spain: Cementos Molins’ sales totaled Euro705m in the first half of 2023, up by 16% year-on-year from first-half 2022 levels. The producer said that increased cement volumes and prices across all regions contributed to the growth. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 36% to Euro179m, while its net profit rose by 40% to Euro80m. The company noted the favourable impact of the comparison with the first half of 2023, which was marked by market slowdown, high inflation and supply chain disruptions.
 
Chief executive officer Julio Rodríguez said "We have continued on the path of sustainable and profitable growth throughout the first half of 2023. It has been a truly positive second quarter in terms of our economic results, but also very encouraging thanks to the progress we are making in terms of sustainability. We have achieved important milestones in our Sustainability Roadmap 2030, including the launch of new low-carbon footprint cements and concretes. Furthermore, we inaugurated a new solar park in San Luis, Argentina."

Peru: Grupo Gloria subsidiary Cemento Yura plans to transition its Yura cement plant from using coal to alternative fuels (AF) in its cement production. Additionally, the producer will build a 30MW solar power plant at the site. The Gestión newspaper has reported the total value of the upgrades as US$50m. Both projects are scheduled for commissioning in mid-2025.

In the 2023 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2023, Peruvian cement despatches fell by 8% to 12.6Mt.

India: CK Birla Group subsidiary Orient Cement has concluded a share subscription and shareholders' agreement with Cleantech India to acquire a 29% stake in Ardeur Renewables for US$1.16m. Ardeur Renewables is building a 16MW solar power plant at Orient Cement’s Chittapur cement plant in Karnataka and a 5.5 MW solar power plant at Orient Cement’s Jalgaon cement plant in Maharashtra. The cement producer says that the acquisition will help it to further increase its renewables usage and optimise its energy costs.

Argentina: Cementos Avellaneda has inaugurated its 22MW La Calera solar power plant in San Luis Province. Forbes has reported that the power plant will supply electricity to the producer's 1.1Mt/yr San Luis cement plant. As a result, operations at the plant will henceforth be 55% renewably powered. In total, the new solar power plant will eliminate 22,600t/yr-worth of CO₂ emissions. Engineering company Industrias Juan F Secco supported the installation of the US$25m plant, which took 16 months to build.

Cementos Avellaneda's general director José Luis Maestri said "It was key to the success of this project to have been able to find a strategic partner such as Industrias Juan F Secco, an Argentine company with more than 80 years of history and experience in the energy sector, which provided us with all its professionalism and commitment."

Spain: Cementos El Molino plans to invest Euro3.7m in an upgrade to energy infrastructure at its 450,000t Santa Eulalia grinding plant in Aragon. Alimarket Construction News has reported that the upgrade consists of a 12MW substation and a 2.4MW solar power plant. Euro2m-worth (54%) of investments will go towards construction of the subsystem and Euro1.7m (46%) towards the solar power plant. Cementos El Molino expects to carry out the investments before the end of 2023.

Pakistan: Dandot Cement says that its on-going upgrade to its Lahore cement plant reached 60% completion during the fourth quarter of the 2023 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2023. The project remains scheduled for completion in July 2023. Pakistan Company News has reported that the producer has taken delivery of new equipment, completed civil construction work, handed over the site to its engineering contractor, completed 75% of mechanical erection and conducted some tests. The producer awarded a new contract for installation of remaining portions of its control systems to an Uzbekistan-based contractor. Complete sections of the project include the plant's captive solar power plant.

Dandot Cement has made total investments worth US$12.3m in the project.

Uzbekistan: China Energy and the government of Uzbekistan have set a resolution to inaugurate the upcoming 3Mt/yr Samarkand cement plant before the end of 2024. Within the same timeframe, China Energy will launch 400MW-worth of new solar power plants in Bukhara and Kashkadarya. The China-based utilities company will subsequently expand its solar power capacity in Uzbekistan to 1000GW.

Uzbekistan Daily News has reported that China Energy and the government committed to cooperating further on the development of a programme for the implementation of joint projects, including more new 'production plants' and renewable energy infrastructure.