Generation Restoration Through Innovation
REIMAGINE. RECREATE. RESTORE
5 June, 2021, World Environment Day, marks the launch of United Nation’s 10-year plan to pause and reverse the decline of ecosystem – the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.Interestingly, economic restoration doesn’t only refer to growing trees and cleaning up rivers. It can also mean sustainable development, restoring vegetation, greening the grid to name a few. This decade-long global project is aiming at eliminating 13 to 26 Gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. With the sudden increase in occurrences of natural calamities throughout the globe, minimizing the impact of climate change is now an existential issue for mankind.
We, at Sterlite Power, believe that any development can only benefit the society, if it fosters sustainability. Driven by our core purpose – “Empowering humanity by addressing the toughest challenges of energy delivery”, we ensure maintenance of a healthy ecosystem across the lifecycle of our projects.
REIMAGINING Old Ways of Working
With changing times, the challenges of energy delivery are also evolving – which can be resolved through innovative solutions. At Sterlite Power, we have been reimagining the conventional methodologies with a touch of innovation. In NRSS-29, one of the largest private sector transmission projects to bring reliable power to Jammu & Kashmir in India, we were faced with extreme challenges of terrain and weather. To address the challenges in material transportation, we did away with the conventional methods of using mules &manual labour,andwent ahead with the innovative use of helicranes. From this project in Kashmir in 2016 to the recent mega project in the North East of India (NER-II), this innovative approach has now become our way of working. This has enabled us to have minimal environmental impact on ground.The usage of aerial technology, allows us to avert negative impact on vegetation and the natural geographies – a step otherwise necessary for paving access routes in untouched areas.
During execution of recently commissioned NER-II project, two lines had to pass through a total of 44 Kms of dense hilly forests to reach the destination point. This was a tough challenge and could have impacted the ecosystem adversely. Driven by our core values of respect, social impact,and ourresolve to protect the region’s biodiversity, we reimagined the whole route. In place of two different lines, a single multi-circuit transmission line was designed and constructed. With this intervention, wereduced the utilization of forest land by 102 hectares.
RECREATING Energy Corridors
As per the latest records, electricity generation accounts for nearly 72% of greenhouse gas emissions2. If we don’t change the energy mix in our current generation portfolio, this will be end up being responsible for nearly 90% of total carbon emissions permitted under the global climate targets by 2040.The message is clear. The time for energy transition is ‘now’.Sterlite Power has been relentlessly working on recreating our energy portfolio by integrate renewables to the grid at an accelerated pace.Many of of our projects in India and Brazil are catering to greening the grid. Our Lakadia-Vadodara Transmission Project Ltd. (LVTPL), one of the largest Green Energy Corridor (GEC) project auctioned in India, will connect a 30 GW solar power project being planned in the Kutch region. One of our latest projects in Brazil is connecting the country’s mainsolar power region to Sao Paulo. Our projects are contributing in recreating the global energy portfolio – a step towards limiting the global temperature rise well below 2°C.
Besides, when one of our brownfield transmission lines got disrupted due to flash floods, we went ahead and constructed a river crossing with a long span of 1.1 Km over the Ganges, on the Purnia-Bihar Shariff 400 kV Quad conductor, DC transmission Line, without any support structures in the middle of the river. This recreation mechanism was first-of-its-kind in the transmission sector, and has the potential to mitigate risks related to climate change.
RESTORING Ecosystem
We might not realize, but biodiversity is associated with several vital eco-systemic services, like soil retention, regulation of water, oxygen production, to name a few. The simple fact that the loss of these eco-systemic services has the potential to have huge impact on the social and economic stability. This makes preserving the biodiversity the next big global mission.
With sustainability at the cornerstone of our operations, we believe that any development can onlybenefit the society, if it fosters sustainability.From tree translocation, to preserving native flora and fauna, to creating artificial nesting platforms and safe passage for wildlife by building culverts and canopy bridges – caring for the environment and communities is a way of working for us to preserve and restore the natural vegetation and habitat..
Let’s REIMAGINE, RECREATE, RESTORE now.
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