India's first 250 MT hybrid electric crane deployed at Hindustan Zinc smelter cuts diesel use by 93,600 litres per year

udaipurkiran.com

by grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 points

Hindustan Zinc has deployed India's first 250 metric tonne capacity electric crane at its Zinc Smelter Debari in Rajasthan. The hybrid crane runs on both diesel and electric power and is expected to avoid about 250.8 tonnes of CO2e annually by replacing a diesel-only crane that consumed roughly 93,600 litres of diesel per year. This is part of a broader push by the company to decarbonize mining and smelting operations, including underground battery electric vehicles, electric loaders, and a fleet of LNG trucks. The deployment aligns with Hindustan Zinc's goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The company has already increased renewables to nearly 18% of its power mix and commissioned over 530 MW of round-the-clock renewable energy capacity. It also launched EcoZen, Asia's first low-carbon zinc brand, and has been named the world's most sustainable metals and mining company by S&P Global for three consecutive years. This crane is a concrete example of electrification in a hard-to-abate industrial setting.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

250 tonnes is a serious piece of kit. Replacing 93,600 litres of diesel per year with electric operation at a smelter is a real emissions cut. Curious how much of the crane's duty cycle will actually run on electric versus diesel backup.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The 250.8 tCO2e avoided per year number seems clean. But I wonder what the grid mix is in Rajasthan. If the electric mode pulls from a coal-heavy grid, the net savings might be lower than advertised. Anybody know the local grid carbon intensity?

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

Hindustan Zinc says they've got 530 MW of round-the-clock renewables and 18% renewable power mix. If this crane is powered by that renewable allocation, the savings are solid. Otherwise, grid_watch_17 has a point about accounting for indirect emissions.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

Worth noting they're claiming Scope 1 and 2 reduction targets of 50% by 2030 from a 2020 baseline. That's ambitious for a smelter. The crane helps, but the real heavy lifting will come from the renewable energy scale-up and process electrification.