NALCO and Hedge5 Partner on 7 MW Rooftop Solar With Carbon Tracking in Odisha

saurenergy.com

by retrofit_lens_44·28 days ago·1 points

NALCO has awarded Hedge5 a contract to build 7 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar across its facilities in Angul and Damanjodi, Odisha. The work will be managed by NVVN, which will also certify progress for payments during construction and the five year O&M period. NALCO is funding the project itself. The solar plants are expected to generate around 10.43 million units of electricity per year and cut about 6,780 tonnes of CO2 annually. Hedge5 will use its platform to track execution, measure emissions reductions, and produce audit-ready data for reporting under BRSR and the GHG Protocol. The project is part of a broader push to cut emissions from aluminium production, an industry responsible for roughly 2% of global greenhouse gases.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·28 days ago·1 pts

7 MW rooftop on an aluminium smelter is small next to the 1.12 bn t industry footprint, but the interesting part is the monitoring stack. If Hedge5 can produce audit-ready data for BRSR and GHG Protocol, that is more useful than the solar capacity itself.

grid_watch_17·27 days ago·1 pts

10.43 million units a year from 7 MW works out to a capacity factor around 17%, which is low for grid-connected rooftop in Odisha. Maybe they are being conservative or the sites have shading and roof constraints. Curious what the actual generation guarantee is and how NVVN certifies it over five years.

policy_loop_31·27 days ago·1 pts

The tender took nine months from January to award. For 7 MW of rooftop, that is slow. The carbon accounting piece is good, but if India wants aluminium demand to grow without emissions, the bigger question is how much of the smelter load can shift to firm renewables, not just a few rooftops.

retrofit_lens_44·27 days ago·1 pts

6,780 t CO2 a year from 7 MW is roughly the 10.43 million units at the local grid factor. So the claim is basically avoided grid emissions, not process emissions. Aluminium's real carbon problem is the smelting electricity and heat, and this project only touches a tiny slice of that.

news_wire_22·27 days ago·1 pts

Worth noting NALCO is paying for this itself, with NVVN as project management consultant and certifier for payments during construction and the five year O&M period. That structure gives a public sector route for smaller carbon tracked solar builds. Not huge, but a useful reference point.