• LIBERTY Galați to accelerate its energy efficiency programme to reduce consumption
• The steelworks, supported by SIMEC Energy, developing large renewable energy programmes

LIBERTY Galati is to accelerate its programmes aimed at improving energy efficiency and driving its increased use of renewable energy as part of its GREENSTEEL transformation plans and CN30 vision. The focus of the programmes is to achieve a significant reduction in the steelwork’s usage of natural gas and overall energy consumption, in parallel with a big jump in its renewable energy capacity.

The reduction in natural gas usage will be driven through a number of operational improvements across the steelwork’s plants, including: energy recovery from the off gases produced by the blast furnaces; the optimisation of steam usage by the plant’s production lines; technical improvements of the natural gas burners to reduce consumption; and a reduction of the heat loss from steam pipes.

The programme to reduce power consumption includes a range of upgrades to motors and drives across the plant as well as the replacement of more than 1,000 old fashioned and energy-intensive lights with new low-energy LED ones by Enel X Romania. That project will cost almost RON 1 million but should bring about total energy savings of around 700 MWh per year, enough to power 400 homes. The project is expected to pay for itself within the next 18 months, thanks to the 61% energy savings and lower maintenance costs.

As part of its longer term GREENSTEEL transformation plan, LIBERTY Galati launched the tender process for the supply of hybrid electric furnace technology earlier this summer. These new furnaces will reduce the carbon emissions from the plant by over 80% in due course, underpinning its ambition to produce carbon neutral GREENSTEEL by 2030. To support the drive to GREENSTEEL and carbon neutrality, LIBERTY Galati has already launched the first 50MW phase of a 180MW on-site solar project which will require a total investment of RON 890 million and will provide clean, renewable energy directly to the steelworks.

Ajay Aggarwal, President of the Board at LIBERTY Galati, said: “LIBERTY Galati has always taken responsibility for reducing its energy consumption as well as developing its long-term plan to be carbon neutral by 2030. These programmes and our commitment to improving our renewable energy supply have become ever more important as energy prices continue to rise and there is a continued lack of engagement from suppliers or the Government on settling long term supply agreements. However, there is only so much we can do in the short term, so we continue to actively engage governmental authorities at local and national level to provide meaningful support to industry ahead of the coming winter period.”