Milky Mist Dairy Food has commissioned a 10 MW solar power plant at Arasanoor, taking its solar capacity at the location to 25 MW. The company said total investment in the Arasanoor solar installations stood at Rs. 1.1 bn. The new plant follows an earlier 15 MW facility commissioned at the same site.

The company began investing in renewable energy in 2016, when it commissioned its first 2 MW solar plant. Its renewable energy portfolio now includes 5 MW at Chithode, 9 MW at Kavilipalayam, 25 MW at Arasanoor and 2 MW of wind power at Kayathar, taking total capacity to 41 MW.

The installations have been developed on arid and open land considered unsuitable for effective farming. Milky Mist said the operational renewable capacity meets its total power requirements and supports its integrated manufacturing facility at Perundurai and milk chilling centres across several locations. The 25 MW Arasanoor facility is expected to generate about 2.0 mn units of electricity annually and avoid approximately 16,000 t of carbon emissions each year.

Since 2016, Milky Mist has invested close to Rs. 1.97 bn in renewable energy generation plants. The projects have cumulatively generated about 210 mn units of electricity, valued at around Rs. 1.65 bn. The company said its solar plants have an operating life of approximately 28 to 30 years and are expected to generate around 1.4 bn units over their lifecycle, equivalent to a reduction of about 1.35 mn t of carbon dioxide emissions.

Milky Mist also uses steam turbine technology, a methane gas purification plant and effluent treatment operations for captive power generation. The methane is purified into compressed natural gas, while biomass is used for boiler operations. Chairman and Managing Director T Sathish Kumar said the latest commissioning formed part of the company’s effort to strengthen energy self-sufficiency, improve manufacturing efficiency and expand renewable power use as operations grow.