How much electricity does a 10 TPD tube ice plant save compared with block ice making?

Tube ice saves about 47 kWh per tonne in BEE's Bhimavaram report: a 10 TPD plant at 73.88 kWh against 120.7 for the block plant it replaces. At 2,800 t a year that is 131,111 kWh, roughly 88 t CO2 on today's grid. Cost Rs 12.10 lakh, payback 2.46 years (2010).

Block plant against tube plant

• Block plant measured: 120.7 kWh per tonne, on a 45 kW (60 HP) compressor with 5 HP agitator and 5 HP condenser pump.
• Cluster block plants ranged from 85 to 120 kWh per tonne.
• Tube ice plant offered: 10 t a day on a 50 HP compressor motor, a 1 HP ice cutter, a 1 HP chilled water pump and a 50 TR cooling tower, at 73.88 kWh per tonne.
• Plant and motor Rs 12.00 lakh, plus Rs 0.10 lakh for fitting.

How the two plants make ice

A block plant fills cans with water, stands them in an agitated brine tank cooled by ammonia coils, and waits 48 hours for a block to form. Blocks are then crushed to the size the buyer wants.

A tube plant freezes and harvests in a continuous cycle. The quoted 10 TPD machine draws 34.11 kW at 80% load and makes 138.5 kg every 18 minutes, the maker's figures.

What the report does not settle

• Whether your buyers will take tube ice. The report notes crushed block ice melts faster and cools fish faster, while more tube ice fits in a box of fish.
• Output: the saving is worked on your current 2,800 t a year. A plant sized at 10 t a day can make more, which raises total kWh.
• The CO2: the report claims 106 t, using an older grid factor. On CEA's FY 2025-26 factor it is about 88 t.

How to compare fairly

1. Meter the block plant's kWh for a month and count tonnes of ice sold.
2. Ask the tube plant supplier for kWh per tonne at your water temperature, in writing.
3. Compare per tonne, then multiply by the tonnes you expect to sell, not the plant's capacity.

2,800 t of ice a year

• Block: 120.7 kWh x 2,800 = 337,988 kWh x 0.675 = 228 t CO2
• Tube: 73.88 kWh x 2,800 = 206,864 kWh x 0.675 = 140 t CO2
• Saved: 131,124 kWh, about 88 t CO2 (report rounds to 131,111 kWh)
• Money at the report's Rs 3.75 per kWh: Rs 4.92 lakh a year

Grid factor from CEA's database for FY 2025-26, an estimate.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads each electricity bill into monthly kWh and CO2 records, which, set against tonnes sold, give the per tonne figure a lender or buyer asks for. The green loan check shows what to prepare for financing the new plant.

• Green loan readiness check
• Bhimavaram ice plants: power per tonne
• New compressor for a block ice plant
• Ice plant electricity per tonne of ice

Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: tube ice plant 10 TPD, Bhimavaram ice making cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (FY 2025-26 grid factor)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. Equipment figures are from a BEE SME programme project report; costs and paybacks are at that report's prices. Recheck with today's fuel and power prices and a current quote.