To reduce dependency on the grids of power utilities, Indian state-owned steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited’s (SAIL) Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has undertaken projects to increase captive generation of power through a mix of thermal and hydro-electric generation plants, company sources said on Thursday, February 22.
RSP will add another 250 MW coal-based power plant to be constructed by NSPCL Limited, a joint venture between SAIL and NTPC Limited, the country’s largest power generation company, the sources said.
NSPCL is also the existing operator of RSP’s 120 MW captive coal-based plant, the sources added.
Along with construction of additional thermal power plant at RSP’s steel mill in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, RSP has signed an agreement with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited to construct a 10 MW hydro-electric power project, at the existing Mandira dam across the Sankh river in close proximity to the RSP plant site, the officials said.
RSP, which operates an integrated 4.5 million mt per year steel mill, requires about 230 MW of power of which 150 MW comes from its existing captive power facilities and the one operated by NSPCL Limited, while the balance is sourced from utility grids.