Electrifying industrial heat as a path to India’s thermal independence

Explore how electrifying industrial heat can drive India's thermal independence amidst geopolitical challenges and energy supply crises.

In the industrial town of Morbi in Gujarat, the air usually hums with the roar of gas-fired kilns producing millions of square metres of ceramic tiles. Today, however, a quarter of those kilns are cold. Nearly a thousand kilometres away in Ludhiana, Punjab, the textile hubs that clothe a third of India are facing a similar paralysis. The reason is geopolitical.

As the conflict between the U.S. and Iran intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital oil and gas artery, has turned into a gauntlet. India imports nearly half of its natural gas and immediately felt the pinch — rendered more painful by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, slashing gas allocations to non-priority industrial sectors to just 65-80% of their contracted volumes.

For the manufacturers in Morbi and Ludhiana who began experimenting with new energy models years ago, the present crisis must be a moment of validation as they accelerate towards concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology and the large-scale electrification of heat. For others, however, it can seem like an ultimatum to fast-track decarbonisation and, for India overall, a reminder that it needs thermal independence, i.e. a ‘sovereign’ source of heat, rather than just energy independence.

For decades, industrial heat has been synonymous with burning hydrocarbons like coal or gas. In Ludhiana’s textile mills, for instance, large boilers burn gas to create steam used in dyeing and finishing. In Morbi, gas flames bake tiles at temperatures exceeding 1,000 °C.

Rooftop solar photovoltaic panels have become common but they are designed to produce electricity, not the raw, intense heat that industries demand, so this is where CST has become relevant. While photovoltaics use semiconductors to convert renewable sunlight into a stream of electrons, CST uses precisely controlled mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, where it heats a fluid like water or molten salt to up to 400 °C.

Most textile processes, including scouring and bleaching, require a temperature between 100 °C and 180 °C. By installing parabolic troughs on factory grounds or nearby land, these mills can generate pressurised steam directly from sunlight.