OREANDA-NEWS. As part of the strategy for the development of energy-intensive industry in the Irkutsk Region, OJSC Irkutskenergo has completed the preliminary feasibility study for the construction of an electrometallurgical steel plant in Angarsk (the Irkutsk Region), a modern, environmentally friendly factory. Its main products will include reinforcing bars made from ferrous scrap metals and designed for use in construction, and steel billets. The plant’s nameplate capacity will total 260 thousand tons per year. Commissioning is scheduled for 2015; investments are estimated at RUB 6 bln. Preliminary estimates suggest a payback period of up to seven years. It is expected to create about 200-400 jobs at the plant.

The plant’s key competitive advantages will include: low electricity costs and spare capacity; the close proximity of the selected site to OJSC Irkutskenergo’s CHPP-10, which enables the use of its infrastructure and connection to the grids and the 110/35 kV substation; a large distance to the main rivals amounting to 1,700-3,640 kilometers (China, Western Siberia, the Ural Region), which will entail a considerable decrease in transportation costs incurred by consumers in the Irkutsk Region, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republic of Buryatia and the Transbaikal Region; the proximity of sources of scrap material (there is a sufficient amount of ferrous scrap metals in the region).

The company considers the construction of an electrometallurgical steel plant as a relevant and attractive investment project. Its products will be used for a large-scale housing construction program to be implemented in Eastern Siberia, mineral extraction, oilfield development, modernization and construction of timber processing plants, aluminum smelters and mining enterprises, as well as for constructing power generation facilities (a gas-fired TPP in Ust-Kut) and developing transportation infrastructure (for instance, the Baikal-Amur Mainline), including as part of the implementation of the state-run “Development of Siberia and the Far East” program.

Evgeny Fedorov, CEO of OJSC Irkutskenergo: “When developing this project, we focused on its investment potential for the company and the shareholders, as well as the possibility for boosting economic growth in Eastern Siberia by means of energy-intensive enterprises. At present, Russia’s steel industry comprises mainly large factories situated in the western part of the country, while consumers in Eastern Siberia have no competitive advantage. Therefore, the project launched in the southern part of the Irkutsk Region will be highly relevant to the development of industry in our region.”