Essar Steel Algoma in Successful Start-Up of New Cogeneration Plant in Ontario

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The 70-megawatt (MW) cogeneration plant constructed and operated by Essar Steel Algoma Incorporated (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) at its steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie successfully passed its final performance test earlier this month. The power facility is now up and running, reducing the reliance of the steel mill on the power grid by an average of 50%.

The plant, the result of an agreement made in 2004 between the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) (Toronto) and Algoma Energy LP, a limited partnership of Essar, converts byproducts from the coke and ironmaking processes at the mill into electricity and steam for the steelworks. Final approval for the construction of the plant was granted in 2006. The facility was under construction for two years at a cost of almost $120 million.

Extensive testing of the facility, including all equipment, processes and connections, was conducted for more than a month before getting the go-ahead after meeting all of OPA's mandatory operating standards. The facility gives both environmental and economic gains and frees up extra energy for the provincial energy grid.

Normally the byproducts from the coke and ironmaking processes are burned off, but by eliminating this process and using low-nitrogen-oxide burner technology, the byproduct gases can be used in the cogeneration facility and reduce the nitrogen-oxide emissions at the plant by 15%, or around 400 tons annually.

The cogeneration plant contains two 375,000-pound-per-hour boilers and a 105-MW steam turbine coupled to a generator. Installed ancillary equipment includes a transformer and distributed control system, feed water and condensate systems, a blast furnace gasholder, a water treatment plant and a cooling tower. The massive turbine blade used in the facility was supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7011) (Tokyo, Japan). The plant is the first occasion that a steel manufacturer in Canada has constructed a cogeneration plant to utilize the byproduct gases from a steel mill.

Essar had been attempting to increase its on-site power generation for more than a decade. The company already had almost 30 MW of generating capacity produced from waste gases prior to the commissioning of the new facility, but it was not until 2005, when the Ontario province began offering long-term energy contracts, that the economic situation improved sufficiently to go ahead with the cogeneration facility.

Essar is a global steel producer with plants in India, the United States and Asia in addition to its Ontario plant. The company currently produces 9 million tons of steel products per year, but has aggressive plans to increase capacity to 20 million-25 million tons annually. The Ontario plant produces up to 4 million tons of steel annually, while in India, the company has several facilities. These include its Bailadilla complex, which handles some 8 million tons of iron ore annually, reducing it to slurry, which is then piped 267 kilometers to the pellet plant in Visakhapatnam. Essar also has a complex in Hazira, Gujarat, which produce hot briquette iron and hot rolled coil steel.

View Project File - 53003089 53003180

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.