Asku ferroalloy plant in Kazakhstan built its own power supply line

/IRBIS, Feb 14, 01/ - REUTERS informs, with the reference to the general director assistant of Aksu ferroalloy plant, the major producer of ferroalloys in Kazakhstan, Svetlana Gorbunova, that it has finished the construction of its own power supply line for 220 kilovolt, which is to cut product cost. The power line, which has been built for several months, has a total length of 9.4 km and connected the plant with the distribution facility of the Evroaziatskaya energeticheskaya korporatsya OJSC (Eurasian energy corporation). Both the corporation and the plant are part of Eurasian bank group. The head of the Eurasian bank, Aleksandr Mashkevich, informed that the power line would allow the plant to save $6-7 mln each year. The need for having its own power line is dictated by a growth of tariffs on power in 1998 causing the cost of the production to increase, and the tariffs are said to have increase by more than 1,000% from 1997 to 2000. She said that the plant will get the power through its own line and through the line owned by the national power operator, KEGOC in a proportion of 75% to 25%, respectively, as specified in an agreement signed by two parties. One of the lines owned by the KEGOC is not loaded and will be used as a reserve line for emergencies, is said. Total construction cost of the line is said to have equaled KZT142 mln, which turns into three year pay back period. Aksu ferroalloy plant is said to be a part of transnational company Kazchrome, which is controlled by the Eurasian bank. Its year 2000 production reached 795.7 th. tons of ferroalloys used in the production of steel and profits reached KZT3 bln.