Clean Energy to Power Three More Coca-Cola Plants in India.

All the plants of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will start using solar power for their primary requirements. After the move, with immediate effect, the plant at Ameenpur will have 75 per cent of its needs met by solar power. The two other at Vijayawada and Srikalahasti, will have 50 per cent of their energy requirements met by solar energy.

Hyderabad-based green energy solutions provider, Vibrant Energy, will provide 27 million units of solar power for the three plants. HCCB had earlier carried out a pilot project to test the feasibility of solar energy with another company Solar PPA, which supplied 4.5 million units of power. Its agreement with Solar PPA will continue.

Last year HCCB had announced that it had commenced the use of renewable energy for both its plants on the outskirts of Bangalore. While increasing the use of green power, HCCB is also replacing all the bulbs at its factories with LED lighting in all its 21 plants across the country. This too will be a significant source for saving on the usage of conventional power.

To make its plants more power efficient, HCCB has taken several other initiatives like the adoption of briquettes - made out of agricultural waste like groundnuts and coconut shells - to power boilers. Installation of solar rooftops, adoption of energy-efficient technology, and greater investments in high speed manufacturing lines, are some of the other steps being taken to become more energy efficient.