New Delhi, Oct 16, 2024: ITC Limited has recently commissioned its second offsite solar plant in Karnataka with a capacity of 9.45 MW in the Davangere district as part of its target to meet 100 per cent of electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2030.
The facility is ITC’s 4th offsite solar plant in the country, with similar units earlier built in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
In FY 2023-24, over 50% of ITC’s total energy requirements were already met from renewable sources such as solar, wind and biomass. Total Energy includes electrical energy as well as thermal energy.
The offsite solar plant is set to generate around 15 million units every year, providing green energy to the company’s numerous facilities in the state. These include the Company’s hotels such as ITC Gardenia and ITC Windsor, its R&D facility in Bangalore – the ITC Life Sciences and Technology Centre (LSTC), foods manufacturing units including two large Integrated facilities in Mysore and Malur, Agri product processing factory, Warehousing & Logistics facility as well as ITC Green Centre in Bangalore – an iconic Green Building Office and Information Technology Centre in the state.
Commenting on the initiative, S Sivakumar, Group Head of Agri, IT Business and Sustainability at ITC Limited, said, “In line with ITC’s Sustainability 2.0 Vision, it has been our endeavour to accelerate efforts in decarbonisation. Expanding our renewable energy footprint has been one of the key pillars of our low-carbon growth strategy.”
With this new solar plant, ITC’s total share of electrical renewable energy in the state of Karnataka will be close to 90%. The plant, spread over 26 acres, is built with the latest bi-facial module technology and string inverters and complies to national & international standards on design & safety. This solar plant will help reduce 12,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
In its endeavour to contribute to a ‘cleaner and greener’ environment, ITC has been expanding its renewable energy footprint over the past two decades.
The company has already made significant investments in renewable energy assets and is in the advanced stage of setting up multiple offsite solar projects across several states in the country. ITC’s renewable electricity capacity presently is over 200 MW covering both solar and wind power plants. The company has also invested in several solar electricity projects with rooftop solar power units installed in several locations such as Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Bolarum in Telangana, Tribeni in West Bengal, Trichy in Tamil Nadu and Kapurthala in Punjab, with more in the pipeline.
ITC has made a commitment to reduce emissions and dependence on energy from fossil fuels. Accordingly, all factories also incorporate appropriate green features. ITC’s premium luxury hotels, and office complexes continue to be certified at the highest level by either the US Green Building Council (USGBC) or the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Being a global sustainability exemplar, 12 ITC’s hotels are the first in the world to receive LEED Zero Carbon certification and 5 ITC Hotels are the first 5 hotels in the world to be LEED Zero Water certified.
