# How much electricity can a vitrified tile polishing line save?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/vitrified-tile-polishing-line-kwh-saving

About a quarter, in BEE's Morbi report. Replacing the motors on one plant's grinding, calibration, polishing and sizing machines cut the line from 2,108,808 to 1,605,900 kWh a year: 502,908 kWh, roughly 340 t CO2 on today's grid. Cost Rs 25.79 lakh, payback 1.26 years at 2010 prices.

## What the auditors found on the line

- Seven machines with 971 kW connected drew only 501 kW on average, so most motors ran below half load.
- Average motor efficiency was about 70%; the replacement motors were rated at 86.4%.
- The line ran 24 hours a day, 250 days a year, and used 1.37 to 2.28 kWh per square metre of tile across the units audited.
- Motors cost Rs 20.21 lakh of the Rs 25.79 lakh total. Procurement and fitting: 4 weeks, done on days the line is idle.

## Where the saving comes from, machine by machine

- Polishing 2 (100 kW measured on 174 kW): 117,387 kWh a year.
- Polishing 1 (51 kW on 174 kW): 94,932 kWh.
- Rough grinding (46 kW on 97 kW): 70,042 kWh.
- Polishing 3 (130 kW on 174 kW): 70,581 kWh.
- Calibration 1 and 2: 61,177 and 38,986 kWh.
- Sizing (93 kW on 115 kW, the best loaded): 49,803 kWh.

## Why the report's 402 t CO2 is high

The report used an older grid factor of about 0.8 kg per kWh. On CEA's FY 2025-26 factor of 0.675, the same 502,908 kWh is about 339 t of CO2 a year. The kWh saving is the solid number; the CO2 follows the grid year you report.

## Before you order motors

- Log each machine's actual kW for a full shift with a clamp meter. Lightly loaded motors gain most; a well loaded one may not pay back.
- Check whether a smaller motor, not only a more efficient one, fits each machine.
- Fit a sub-meter on the polishing line first, so the before and after kWh come from the same meter.
- Report kWh per square metre polished each month, not just total kWh, so a change in output does not hide the saving.

## One plant's polishing line for a year

- Before: 2,108,808 kWh x 0.675 = 1,423 t CO2
- After: 1,605,900 kWh x 0.675 = 1,084 t CO2
- Saved: 502,908 kWh, about 339 t CO2
- At about 5,929 m2 a day for 250 days: roughly 1.42 kWh per m2 down to 1.08 (estimate)

Grid factor from CEA's database for FY 2025-26, an estimate. The square metre figures assume the report's suitable plant size; use your own output.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads each electricity bill and gives monthly kWh and CO2 with the grid factor for that bill's year, so a drop after the motor change shows up in your records. The green loan check shows what a lender will ask for before funding it.

- [Green loan readiness check](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)
- [Polishing line share of a tile's footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/vitrified-tile-polishing-line-electricity)
- [BEE star rated induction motors](https://senseible.earth/answers/bee-star-rating-induction-motor)
- [Measuring savings from an efficiency project](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-measure-savings-from-energy-efficiency-project)

Sources: [BEE, Detailed project report: energy conservation in polishing section, Morbi ceramic cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/dpr/MRV_CRM3.pdf), [CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (FY 2025-26 grid factor)](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

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.