The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (
NLMK) has announced that it has completed installation of the main equipment for a new 150MW heat and power plant, which will allow it to improve its Lipetsk site's self-sufficiency in electric power supply from the current 44 percent to 55 percent in H1 2011 when the new blast furnace No. 7 is commissioned.
Construction of the new heat and power plant is one of the main projects of the second stage of
NLMK's technical upgrade program, and will enable a 45 percent increase in its power generation capacity from 332 MW to 482 MW.
Construction of the plant is taking place in parallel with the construction of the new furnace. The new heat and power plant will use blast-furnace gas - a by-product of the main metallurgical process - for the generation of electric power. Recycling 360,000 m3/hour of blast-furnace gas will also reduce the plant's environmental impact and provide an additional 115 Gcal of heat energy as hot water and 120 mt/hour of steam for
NLMK's needs.
Hot tests are scheduled for Q2 2011.