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JSW Steel expects to use green power from the 3,800-tonne hydrogen plant being set up at its Vijayanagar plant and supply green steel at a premium in 18-24 months.
The company has signed a contract with the group company JSW Energy to source green hydrogen and green oxygen to produce green steel.
Jayant Acharya, Joint Managing Director, JSW Steel said the company will get close to 25 megawatts (MW) of round-the-clock renewable power and the demand for green steel is good both in the global and domestic market.
The company will get carbon credits based on the quantum of thermal power being replaced with green energy. Currently, carbon credits are being traded at about $100 each, said Acharya.
Large-scale deployment
Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Steel said the company has already secured contracts for 1GW of capacity and successfully operationalised 225MW solar capacity at Vijayanagar plant last April, making it the first steel plant in India to embrace large-scale renewable energy deployment.
“As we aim to reach a capacity of 50 million tonnes, our aspiration is to power our entire setup through 10 GW of renewable capacity, making us possibly the world’s first major steel manufacturer to achieve this milestone,” Jindal said in the annual report.
Also read: India doing very well on climate action: Union Minister R K Singh
Setting up 1 GW (equal to 1,000 MW) power plants from renewable sources could cost anywhere between ₹4,500 crore and ₹6,500 crore depending on solar or wind. JSW Steel has domestic capacity of 27.7 mt and will reach 37 mt by FY25.
On JSW Steel’s interest in acquiring a 20 per cent stake in Teck Coal unit in Canada for close to $2 billion, Acharya said the company continues to explore various coking coal assets both in India and abroad to fulfil raw material security.
JSW Steel has been increasing steel production capacity and it is very important to achieve backward integration. The company is exploring the Canadian coal opportunity and will firm up a plan soon, he said.
Iron ore assets
Meanwhile, the company has acquired 20 coal and iron ore mines in India, out of which 13 are operational. Efforts are being made to operationalise the remaining mines and shore up the captive sourcing, he said.
Further, 45 per cent of the overall iron ore requirement is currently met through captive sourcing while it is about 6 per cent in coking coal.
On interest in acquiring steel assets being put on block by Vedanta, Acharya said JSW Steel already has a plant in the East but the company has iron ore assets in Karnataka and Goa.
“It is early days and we have to study the assets being put on block,” he said.
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