Konecranes, a company dedicated to producing environmentally friendly and energy-efficient lifting machinery, has put its philosophy into action in its own manufacturing processes by converting one of its newest global plants to operate extensively on solar power.

The Konecranes? plant in Pune, which serves the growing needs of the wider Asian market, has in partnership with CleanMax Solar installed a 7,300 sq m rooftop solar array with an estimated total capacity of 730 kWp to provide 67 per cent of the company?s energy requirement.

?By taking unused roof space and transforming it to the productive task of making clean energy, we will save about 1,300 MT of carbon emissions per annum, which is as good as removing 400 cars off the road,? said Suhas Baxi, Managing Director - Sub-region South Asia, Konecranes.

The solar power generated while creating a cleaner environmental footprint is also about 32 per cent less costly than taking power from the grid. ?So efficiencies and environmental benefits of the installation will flow downstream to our customers via cost savings and efficiencies in producing our own energy-efficient products, including the latest CXT and process cranes produced at Pune,? he said.

The new solar plant, spread across three bays of the extensive premises in west India, generates about 11 lakh units annually, fulfilling around 67 per cent of the plant?s power needs. The system is also able to feed back excess power generated to the grid, thus contribution to India?s solar mission.

?This is the first major solar plant installation for Konecranes globally, providing an initiative by which Konecranes India has set even higher sustainability goals not only amongst the global Konecranes family, but also for manufacturing generally, by showing what is possible.?

The plant was built without capital expenditure from Konecranes, through a Build, Own, Operate, Terminate (BOOT) model where Konecranes is billed on a per kW generated basis under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

By abating 1,400 MT of carbon dioxide annually, the installation will assist in saving 11,500 trees throughout the plant?s life cycle. Catering to cost-efficiency goals, Konecranes will save approximately Rs 25 lakh annually on its power consumption, in addition to going green without any capital expenditure.