LIBERTY Ostrava expects to reduce its annual electricity consumption by almost 7,000 MWh through a major project, which will result in three thousand lights across the steelworks being replaced by June this year. New lighting will be installed at the Tubular Plant, the Cutting Lines and at the Coke plant as part of the steelwork’s progress to being a producer of carbon neutral GREENSTEEL by 2030. The project will save LIBERTY Ostrava more than 24 million Czech Korunas a year.

The replacement of 3, 000 old fashioned and energy-intensive lights with new low-energy LED ones will cost nearly CZK 44 million and should bring about total energy savings of around 6,800 MWh per year, equivalent to the annual power usage of c. 3500 homes. To help fund this significant environmental project, LIBERTY Ostrava has obtained a subsidy for 30% of costs from the EU’s Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness, administered by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The project is part of a set of measures to achieve a competitive and sustainable economy based on knowledge and innovation.

Vladimír Machát, head of the project, said: „The projects to reduce energy consumption by a gradual replacement of obsolete and low-efficient technologies by new ones that are more energy-efficient are a must. This project will not only help us deliver on our strategy of continuous carbon footprint reduction and improve our efficiency but will also help free up some of the limited capacity in the Moravian-Silesian region’s electricity grid.”

The project is highly complex as it needs to be coordinated with production schedules, to ensure the safety of the people working in the areas being improved as well as ensuring production is not disrupted. The replacement work has been underway since last August, with the lights at Ostrava’s coke plant already replaced.

Another environmental project whose is to reduce energy intensity of assets is an installation of frequency switches for control of currently uncontrolled electrical drives, which will take place in the second half of the year.

Further information:

LIBERTY Ostrava is an integrated steel business with an annual production capacity of approximately 3.6 million tonnes per annum serving primarily construction, machinery and oil & gas industries. The company is a domestic leader in the manufacture of road barriers and tubes. In addition to the Czech market, it supplies its products to more than 40 countries around the world. Together with its subsidiaries in Ostrava, the company has 6,000 employees. The company manufactures its products with a minimum possible environmental footprint. The mill is part of LIBERTY Steel Group.

 GFG Alliance is a collection of global businesses and investments owned by Sanjeev Gupta and his family. The Alliance is structured into three core industrial pillars; LIBERTY Steel Group, ALVANCE Aluminium Group and SIMEC Energy Group, independent of each other yet united through shared values and a purpose to create a sustainable future for industry and society. GFG Alliance employs 35,000 people, across 30 countries and has revenues of USD $20bn.

libertysteelgroup.com/cz

www.LIBERTYsteelgroup.com

www.gfgalliance.com