IMFA commissions 60 MW captive unit

Mumbai: Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys said it has commissioned the first of two 60 MW units at its 120 MW captive power plant. The total cost of the power plant is Rs 600 crore. Headquartered in Bhubaneswar, the company is an integrated producer of value-added ferro chrome with capacity of 2.75 lakh tonnes a year. It has captive mines in Sukinda and Nausahi and manufacturing facilities in Therabali and Choudwar. Prem Khandelwal, Chief Financial Officer, said the company has an existing capacity of 138 MW and the current addition will raise it to 198 MW. He said the power from the 120-MW plant was for IMFA’s production requirement. However, in the short-term there would be a surplus of 50 MW which would be fed to the grid. In the long run, plans were on to increase smelting capacity and utilise the entire generation, he said. Power fed to the grid at Choudwar would help stabilise system parameters in the area, including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. IMFA would lay the second circuit from Choudwar to Salepur, which would be part of the distribution system, as also high temperature low sag conductors between IMFA complex and Choudwar grid. The plant’s boiler and pollution control equipment are from Thermax, while the turbine and generator are from China.