Hitachi Receives Order for Hot Strip Mill Electrical and Automation System for State-Owned Steel Producer in India

Hitachi Ltd. (TSE:6501,“Hitachi”) today announced that it has received an order from Mitsubishi Corporation (“MC”) for the electrical and automation system for the new hot strip mill, capacity of 3 million tons per annum, planned by the Steel Authority of India Limited (“SAIL”), a state-owned steel producer in India. The new hot strip mill will be located at the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in the State of Odisha in the eastern region of India.
Planned for completion in early 2018, the electrical and automation system comprises variable speed motors, inverter drive systems, a process control and management system, and a manufacturing execution system (MES).

The order for the new project at RSP was awarded by SAIL to an international consortium comprised of MC and Larsen & Toubro (“L&T”), India's largest construction company. As the consortium leader, MC will coordinate the entire contract for the mechanical equipment and the electrical and automation system. Primetals Technologies, Limited (“PT”), a joint venture established by Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc. and Siemens AG in January 2015, will coordinate engineering and the design and supply of mechanical equipment as a subcontractor to MC. Hitachi will be responsible for the design and supply of the electrical and automation system also as a subcontractor and a consortium partner of PT. Furthermore, L&T will be in charge of local construction.

Hitachi is the world's only manufacturer that applies variable speed induction motors for the standard solution of main drives of hot rolling mills. This technology ensures high robustness and maintainability. At the same time, Hitachi applies highly energy efficient regenerative PWM*1 inverter drive systems to all the line drive motors. Moreover, the process control and management system will provide real-time, precision control of strip thickness and temperature, both of which have a crucial bearing on product quality. Apart from this, Hitachi will supply cutting-edge technologies such as its material property prediction system (MPPS). MPPS predicts the strength, formability and other characteristics of steel sheets by simulating changes in the metallurgical properties of materials and their mechanical properties based on actual data obtained during the hot rolling process. These technologies will help SAIL to realize its ambitions of producing higher grade and higher performance steel products. Furthermore, Hitachi will provide an advanced MES that governs the entire hot rolling process from reception of slabs to shipment of coils and sheets. In these ways, Hitachi will provide one stop solutions that combine IT and control technologies to improve SAIL's productivity. The awarding of this contract to Hitachi reflects a strong appraisal of the high performance and reliability of its electrical and automation systems for the steel industry.

India plans to increase its crude steel production to 300 million tons per annum by 2025, compared with approximately 90 million tons in 2014, and steel producers are planning capital investments based on this outlook. In India, Hitachi plans to build on its experience from this project to proactively participate in projects for state-owned companies, along with projects for private-sector companies, for which it already has a strong track record.
Hitachi will drive global expansion of its electrical and automation systems for the steel industry to facilitate stable and efficient operations by steel producers around the world.

*1

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is a technique used to control the power supply to electrical devices by controlling the duration of on and off of the power semiconductor switch at a fast rate.

Outline of Order

End user	Steel Authority of India Limited
Prime contractor	Mitsubishi Corporation
Site	Rourkela Steel Plant (State of Odisha, India)
Order details	Design, production and delivery of an electrical and automation system for a hot strip mill (variable speed main motors, inverter drive systems, process control and management system, Manufacturing Execution System (MES))
Order received	July 2015
Completion date	Early 2018

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