Coal Handling System Charged to Pave Way for Commissioning of Coke Oven Battery at Nagarnar Steel Plant

"Bringing power into the plant and making it ready for distribution to the different units of the steel plant as per need is a big step towards commissioning of the steel plant later this year. It is commendable that the Nagarnar Steel Plant team working in close coordination and synergy with consultants, vendors and contractors is fast moving towards its goal", declared Dr. Narendra K Nanda, Director (Technical), NMDC.

As a precursor to commissioning of the Coke Oven Battery at its upcoming steel plant at Nagarnar, Dr. Nanda switched on power to the Coal Handling System and the High Tension (HT) Power Supply to Stacker Reclaimer to start commissioning of the coal route of RMHS Package in the presence of Shri Prasant Dash, Executive Director and Project In-charge of Nagarnar Iron & Steel Plant (NISP), senior officials of NISP and MECON, the consultancy partner, workers' representatives and officials from BHEL's Industrial Systems Group, Bangalore which is the commissioning partner for the project.

Shri Baijendra Kumar, lAS CMD, NMDC during his visit to the steel plant last November had exhorted the collective to complete the project for commissioning by September 2018. Against that backdrop, the charging of the Coal Handling System gains significance because the 3 MTPA capacity Nagarnar Steel Plant is expected to handle close to 2.5 million tonnes of coking coal annually to feed its two Coke Ovens. Coking coal is converted to coke for charging into the blast furnace to reduce iron ore to molten steel. NMDC has already placed the order for procurement of the first consignment of coking coal.

NMDC had started the 220KV GIS (Gas Insulated Switch) Main Receiving Sub-station early this month, followed by power supply to the Sinter Plant. Subsequently, as per schedule, power will be stepped down to 33KV and conducted to the 11 sub-stations that will distribute power to different units of the steel plant by the Plant Power Distribution System (PPDS) through overhead cable gallery system. 

BHEL-Industrial Systems Group, Bangalore has engineered, supplied, erected and is commissioning the 11 sub-stations for NISP's PPDS Package at a cost of Rs. 359 crores. The power sub-station packages that will be activated subsequently are the Raw Material Handling Plant, Coke Oven, Blast Furnace, Steel Melting Shop, Hot Strip Mill, Lime & Dolomite Calcination Plant and Railway Yard.

NMDC's Rs.15525 crore 3MTPA capacity steel plant project in Bastar is slated to be commissioned in September 2018. Of the steel plant's total power requirement of 296MW, NMDC proposes to take 241 MW from the grid through Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Corporation Limited (CSPTCL) while the balance will be generated in-house.