The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (Visakhapatnam steel plant) is taking all steps to enhance its captive power capacity and is also using waste gas heat to generate power, according to sources.
The steel plant is currently having five turbo generators, three each of 60 MW capacity and two each of 67.5 MW capacity, taking the total captive power generation capacity to 315 MW.
Almost 45 to 50 per cent of the fuel requirement for the above installed capacity is met through by-product waste fuels such as coke oven gas and blast furnace gas.
Additionally, the RINL is establishing a 120 MW power plant, which would be operational exclusively on waste blast furnace gas. This plant is nearing completion and is scheduled to become operational by the end of the current financial year.
Apart from the above, around 35 to 40 MWs of power is being generated through recovery of waste heat and waste pressure, installed at the main production units such as coke ovens and blast furnaces.
The RINL has also set up a 20.6 MW waste heat recovery plant for recovery of waste heat from sinter coolers of sintering machines- 1 & 2 and a 14 MW top pressure recovery turbine in its new blast furnace-3, which are in the advanced stage of commissioning.
With the completion of the above projects, the power generation through waste energy would jump to over 60 per cent of the total installed capacity, the highest in the Indian Steel Industry, it is claimed.