Indian energy giant considers fly ash for cement

New Delhi-based National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC) said it’s looking to manufacture cement using fly ash from its power stations.

As India’s largest power company, NTPC generates 30 percent of India’s electricity through coal and gas. NTPC said it could produce 42 million tons of fly ash annually from its 28 gigawatts of installed capacity.

Currently, India uses about 20 percent of its fly ash for cement and other industries, with the rest going to landfills or road construction projects.

The cement could also help meet the country’s shortage of the building material, NTPC officials said. The fly ash-based cement, or other ash-based products, could be sold for a profit, the company said.

NTPC plans to establish joint ventures with cement manufacturers, contributing fly ash, power and land.

Last week, NTPC said it established a joint venture with state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India to build a nuclear power plant.

In April, NTPC signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the government-backed National Geophysical Research Institute to identify potential sites for geothermal power projects in the country (see India's NTPC to work with NGRI on geothermal).

NTPC expects to have more than 75 GW of capacity by the year 2017.