Algoma Steel Group Inc., a Canadian company, announced on August 17 that its Lake Superior Power (LSP) plant in Sault Ste had an unplanned outage. Marie, Ontario, forced the suspension of production at its electric arc furnace (EDP)).
According to the company, a malfunction was detected on one of the LSP turbine units and it was automatically shut down, while the rest of the LSP units were not affected. As LSP supplies electricity to Algoma's steel mills, EDP production has been halted. Work on further finishing and shipping continues.
Algoma said that based on current inventory and order numbers, it does not expect a significant impact on its ability to meet customer delivery obligations, although disruptions may affect future supply volumes.
The company expects the electrical shutdown to last no more than 21 days. Algoma is also developing an alternative on-site power supply scheme with an Independent Power Supply System Operator (IESO), which, if approved, will allow the EAF to resume operations in about 10 days. At the same time, the company is postponing previously scheduled LSP maintenance and other maintenance activities to reduce planned downtime in the future.
Algoma owns LSP, having announced the acquisition in March 2018. A nearby 55 MW power plant is used to provide electricity and steam to the steel mill. The previous owner was Brookfield Renewable Power, which shut down the power plant in 2014 after failing to conclude an electricity purchase agreement with the province. Then, on August 1, 2018, Algoma put it back into operation, initially producing 32 megawatts. The plant's capacity can be increased to 110 MW using a second gas turbine.
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