Coal news and updates

Coal crunch hastens Indian metal makers’ switch to green energy

GIC Pte.-backed Greenko, one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, signed an agreement earlier this month with Hindalco Industries Ltd. to provide carbon-free electricity to the aluminum producer’s Odisha smelter for 25 years, following a similar deal with ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd.

etal producers are speeding up their transition to renewable power after a coal crisis led to a supply crunch and sky-high prices of the fossil fuel, according to Greenko Energy Holdings.

GIC Pte.-backed Greenko, one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, signed an agreement earlier this month with Hindalco Industries Ltd. to provide carbon-free electricity to the aluminum producer’s Odisha smelter for 25 years, following a similar deal with ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd.

Greenko is now in talks with two to three other metal producers for round-the-clock power supply, co-founder Mahesh Kolli said, declining to name the firms.

The coal crisis is “a big factor that accelerated this transition” to renewable power from coal-based energy usage, Kolli said in an interview. The metals industry in India is willing to invest in renewable energy and build solar plants, adding a big funding source for clean energy, he said.

The country is emerging from an acute power crisis after a blistering summer and a post-pandemic industrial revival, which spurred electricity demand and overwhelmed domestic coal output. That prompted some metal producers to scour global markets for supplies, where prices are trading near record levels.