Wartsila eyes cement units for combined heat and power plants.

Wartsila India is eyeing the cement industry for the combined heat and power business opportunities it offers.

The company says that setting up power plants using waste heat will help cement plants bring down their cost of electricity and reduce emissions.

Wartsila India believes its long relationship with the cement industry, to which it has supplied captive diesel power generating plants, will help it in tapping this opportunity.

'We have a good relationship with the cement industry. Their needs and our expectations can be a good meeting point,' said Rakesh Sarin, Managing Director, Wartsila India. 'We are going from base zero.' A few cement plants in India have installed waste heat recovery systems to generate additional electricity and reduce their dependence on the grid.

According to James Rajan, Director-Service Unit (South Asia), Wartsila, there are more than 100 cement plants in the country where such waste heat recovery systems can be installed.

Also, new cement plants will have to go in for these systems if they are to substantially reduce their emission levels.


HBL