GACL plans 2nd captive power plant in Vadodara

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd, a major producer in Chlor-Alkali sector, is planning to set up its third captive power plant.

Talking to Business Standard, Guruprasad Mohapatra, Managing Director, GACL, said, "In the next two - three years we will have our third captive power plant." He further said that the third captive power plant his company is planning will have a power generation capacity of about 20-30 Mw.

The captive power plant will be gas-based and the company will invest approximately Rs 150-160 crore. "The new power generation station is needed looking at our plans to increase our production capacity at our Vadodara plant and to become energy sufficient."

Presently, the company has a 90 Mw captive power station at Dahej, and a 40 Mw joint captive power generation station at Vadodara. Both captive power plants are gas-based. The shortfall of the energy is met through buying power directly from the grid of the Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (MGVCL).

GACL in also planning to invest Rs 162 crore to set up three plants in Dahej and one in Vadodara by the end of the year. The company is also investing Rs 140 crore in a wind energy project in Saurashtra. The company will pour in Rs 112 crore for its hydrogen-peroxide plant and Rs 26 crore for its aluminum chloride plant at Dahej.

The hydrogen peroxide plant will start production by June this year where aluminum chloride plant will start functioning by September this year.

The hydrogen peroxide plant will have a capacity of 150 tonnes per day and aluminum chloride plant with 70 tonnes per day capacity.

The hydrogen peroxide plant will utilise the surplus hydrogen generated during the production of caustic soda. The flaking unit, with a 100 tonnes per day of production capacity, in Dahej will be developed with an investment of Rs 12 crore.

On Friday, GACL unveiled its new logo. The logo has been conceived keeping in mind the need to address the much talked about issue on global warming.