Lokmat goes Green and sustainable
Lokmat Media has set up two solar power plants in Maharashtra to power its printing presses at Butibori in Nagpur and Shendra in Aurangabad. The group is the leading printer and publisher of three of the most circulated newspapers in Maharashtra—Lokmat, Lokmat Samachar and Lokmat Times as the Marathi, Hindi and English daily newspapers. Being the first newspaper printer to successfully power two of its printing plants by solar energy, Lokmat today looks inspired to do more than just do sustainable business—it looks like they have found a way to save the planet. Devendra Darda, managing director of Lokmat Media, talks to
All About Newspapers to tell us about the company’s green initiative and the advantages it incurs.
Solar plants at
Nagpur and Aurangabad
The two solar plants at Nagpur and Aurangabad have a capacity 324 kWp and 258 kWp respectively. These are Grid Interactive Solar PV Systems synchronised with the utility power, said Devendra Darda, managing director of Lokmat. The loads connected draw power from the Solar PV System and only excess power is taken from the grid. These plants will be automatically stopped supplying power when utility power fails.
The plants are grid connected at HT level (33kV) as per guidelines and requirements of local utilities. “For this purpose, we have connected the plant at LT level first,” said Devendra. “And after getting necessary permissions for REC from the state utility and MEDA (nodal agency), we have constructed the HT switch yard and stepped up the power generated and synchronised at 33 kv level.”
Talking about the size of the installations, Devendra said the area used for installation of the 324 kWp solar PV power plant is 40,000 sq ft and for the 258 kWp solar plant is 32,000 sq ft approximately. The installation is ground mounted and the structure is raised to a height of two ft above the ground. The solar modules are mounted at an angle of 22° to the ground facing magnetic south.
The numbers of modules used in the power plants are 1296 in Nagpur plant and 1032 in Aurangabad. The inverters are from Kaco (German) with a maximum rated solar input of 60000Wp and a maximum rated output of 49990KVA.
Objective of solar energy in newspaper printing
Devendra said the main objective behind the use of solar energy for printing newspaper is ‘to minimise impact’ on the environment. Besides, he said, “the use of clean solar energy also reduces energy costs compared to conventional sources of energy.” The idea behind this noble initiative is also to promote renewable energy usage and motivate other publishers to adopt renewable energy for the production needs. Both the plants on an average generate 2,800 units of clean electricity, preventing the release of 1,680 kg of CO2 into the air every day, which is not a mean feat by any standard. The Nagpur and Aurangabad solar power plants were inaugurated simultaneously on March 24.
Generation capacity Vs energy requirement
“Both the solar plants generate sufficient power for day printing,” Devendra said. “And we are also able to feed some power to the grid.” The Butibori plant, also called Lokmat Green Energy Park, has a capacity of 324 KW per day and can generate between 1,500 and 1,800 units of electricity from sunlight. Since Lokmat requires only about 1,400 to 1,500 units, the remaining 300 to 400 units are released into the electricity transmission network.
Similarly, the Aurangabad plant has a capacity of 258 KW and can generate 1,200 to 1,400 units of electricity. Therefore, both plants of Lokmat together will release nearly 500 to 600 units of clean and green electricity every day into the electricity transmission grid.
Advantages of solar energy
Devendra Darda
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According to Devendra, the best advantage of using solar energy is that it is a cost effective energy solution for all. He stressed on the fact that by using clean and green energy from the sun, businesses can minimise impact on the environment by reducing carbon emissions that are being released into the atmosphere. “We have to consider for the future generation as well,” said Devendra. “Using solar energy is not only cost effective but also a sustainable in the long run.”
“We feel that our small initiative goes towards the nation’s target of cutting greenhouse gases,” he added. “Till date we have been able to prevent 493,865 kg of CO2 in Nagpur and 298,612 kg of CO2 emission in Aurangabad.”
Cost effectiveness of solar energy
The two solar plants at Nagpur and Aurangabad generate an average of 1500 units per day in Nagpur and 1200 units in Aurangabad.
In the long run solar power generation is very cost effective. “Though initial cost is high, the life of the project is minimum 20 to 25 years,” Devendra said. “Since the maintenance cost is very low (negligible), the cost of energy generation is low as compared to the tariff of power and even if we consider the discount factor of 12 percent, the project is cost effective.”
Lokmat’s machine portfolio
Lokmat has always adopted new technology in all aspects. As per the changing trends the publisher has changed its infrastructure as and when needed. Majority of the printing units produce all-colour editions. “The vision of my grandfather Late Jawaharlal Darda was to deliver Lokmat to all classes,” Devendra recalled. “Keeping this in mind we have always strived to give our best for the people of Maharashtra and Goa.”
And to that end Lokmat’s pre-press activities incorporated at all units make use of the database-driven latest editorial workflow system. “All our offices and district units are inter-connected with intranet so as to give the latest updates and news to the masses. Optimum use of information technology helps us to gather news and photos from district level to printing centers. This is further combined with high-end pagination system that finally processes the pages with various pre-flighting software before printing.” Lokmat uses CtP technology at all its units for quality output of aluminium plates.
Quality along with quantity has been our greatest asset with our high speed printing infrastructure. “As far as our printing machines are concerned we have a fleet of Manugraph machines that caters to our high speed demands,” Devendra mentioned. Besides, all the machines use full automation that consist of treated water with controlled pH and temperature/conductivity, centralised inking system, auto cut off & auto registration systems, online reel auto pasting.
“In the post press we have indigenous mail room systems comprising conveyors and counter stackers that facilitate fast and accurate counting as these machines are connected to computers monitoring counting and proper distribution,” informed Devendra.
Total investment in solar installation
Devendra said they have invested about Rs 70 million to 80 million per MW. The Nagpur project cost the publisher about Rs 30 million whereas the Aurangabad project cost Rs 25 million. “We intend to extend our green initiative by installing solar power plants at our other print centers in the near future,” said Devendra.
