Tembo Steels follows a greener and low carbon steel value chain towards a positive start to the sustainable development of steel industry.

Steel is a basic material supporting economic development around the world. The steel industry is the backbone of construction, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure sectors. Steel production accounts for almost 10% of global carbon emission and about 30% emission from industry which is extremely carbon intensive. Steel produced without any fossil fuel is called Green Steel.

Tembo Steels follows a greener and low carbon steel value chain towards a positive start to the sustainable development of steel industry. Green Steel making should not be an option but a compulsion of the world to protect our mother nature planet earth.

Primary Steel Making

Steel manufacturing consists of primary steel production in which iron ore is converted into iron and subsequently processed to steel. Blast Furnace (BF / BOF) Route is the most common primary route of steelmaking globally. It accounts for approximately 70% share of the world steel production. However, it generates the most carbon emission in comparison to any other route. It generates 2.2 to 2.4 tons of CO2 per ton of steel produced up to the final products. Global steel production is highly concentrated with top 7 producing companies accounting for around 50% of steel production, and mainly it comes from the dirty blast furnace primary route of steel making.

New Greener Approach to Primary Steel Making

Process Flow Chart of Secondary Steel Making

The newer method of primary steel making adapts the hybrid model to reduce energy intensity and carbon neutrality: The Innovative and promising DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) primary path of steelmaking along with the secondary EF route offer a promising primary steel making pathway for lowest carbon emission in steel. DRI steelmaking will continue paving its story growth as a necessary supplement in making high quality pure steel, along with assisting decarbonization of the iron and steel industry.

Tembo Steels leverages synergistic approach of fully integrated primary steel making facility that is also environmentally friendly. Tembo green steel commitment towards the environment is no less than any steel company globally. Through intensive research and development, Tembo Steels, throughout its production chain, over the years adapted all possible ways to manufacture all its products through green steel practices and processes. The company accomplished eliminating CARBON EMISSION UPTO 70% in primary steel making, in all four verticals of commercial steel produced. Tembo may be among the very few in the world to achieve this. Tembo can proudly say that it has created a miniature model for steel companies around the globe as an industry benchmark, making them unique. Its unwavering commitment towards the environment it operates is always prioritized.

The company is pursuing a revolutionary production process in primary steel making in a singular location. The company has achieved more carbon neutrality than many of the advanced economies in the world with the help of a hybrid innovative model, created in primary steelmaking. This model could be replicated in every mini primary steel making facilities across the globe with the potential of substantial GHG reduction in each and every process to the final product of steelmaking.

The company uses renewable energy which is hydropower for its steel production, our electricity is powered by the Bujagali Dams. 95% of Tembo Steels TMT is directly Hot Rolled through the castor, eliminating the conventional billet reheating. This green steel making practice is only achieved to the tune of 30% even in Developed countries. This achievement of surpassing the billet reheating enables 90% carbon emission elimination in the segment.

Tembo Steels Integrated Process Flow Chart of Cleaner and Greener route of steelmaking in Uganda.

Tembo’s green steel approach to technology is based on 11 pillars combined achieving 70% carbon emission reduction, converting its facility into an intelligent steel works.

By integrating these facilities and processes extensive reduction in primary steel making is possible.

1. DRI Route To Steelmaking: DRI Plant (The current trend of carbon minimization) using high grade Iron Ore (purity of more than 68%) resulting into high quality sponge iron with 90 to 93% metallization. This helps achieve remarkably low iron ore consumption of 1.4 to 1.5 tons of DRI, mainly due to the high operating pressure parameters by totally integrating and optimization of energy balance.

1. Electric Furnance Route: Electric Furnace Route, promoting circularity is vital to accelerate hybrid model to cut down emission in primary steel making up to 70%. This is being utilized and configured in to the layout of the plant. Driven by increased recycling of high-quality scrap is responsible for lowering the carbon footprint in an appropriate blend with virgin metallic DRI processing that ensure pure high quality steel finished products.

• Renewable Energy: Tembo Steels uses 100% renewable energy using hydel source to use as energy input in all its production processes. This usage ensures 100% CO2 intensity reduction in the segment, while the world average is merely 10 to 20%. Electricity sources from renewable sources has a significant and vital impact on CO2 emission and it’s reduction.

4         Compact Layout: Tembo Steels adapts a super compact energy efficient layout in all its four verticals of steel where liquid steel is directly transformed into fully finished products without loss of energy due to non-existence of logistics in semi-finished product occurrences of any kind. The future steel complex with DRI/ EF coupled with innovative steel technologies of the future and their latest technologies are merged together in a singular facility with its vast greener steel complex due to the requirement and demand of the process.

The area of this green-tech facility is roughly 1.2 million m2 comprising of the structured layout with 23 steel processing units consisting of primary, secondary and tertiary steel making facilities interconnected covering the entire value chain of steel. This energy efficient process with minimal wastage of energy transforms liquid steel directly to solid steel in all shapes, probably a rarity at a larger level.

Tembo has successfully laid the technological foundation for the future of steel production that vastly minimizes the carbon footprint of a given steel industry anywhere globally. The world average using this process stands at approximately 5 to 10%.

5. Level Two Automation: Tembo Steels uses level two automation in all its existing melting and rolling facilities. Digitalization improves higher productivity and efficiency, resulting in carbon minimizing by an optimal use of raw material.

• Process Yield Improvement: Yield improvement means using fewer resources, thus less energy and processing time. Yield at facility level starting from steelmaking, rolling and finishing. We focus on unique and best in class rolling technologies minimizing CO2 reduction by improving the yield by attaining efficiency throughout the product process ensures lesser raw material processing for the final product. The process thus generates the lowest CO2 emission per ton of hot rolled steel. Tembo uses low carbon production path to produce its final product.

• Production Of High Strength Steel: Yield and Tensile Strength measurements indicates how strong the steel is & the pressure it can withstand. Tembo produces high grade, high tensile steel that results in a reduction of 12–15% in the amount of steel used in all applications. TMT, Wire Rod, HRC and Structural steel all are High Strength Ductile products that are more durable than other low strength construction materials.

• Tembo Steels is the only facility in the whole of Africa from fully integrated facility for Rolling the lightest Hot Rolled Strips of 0.8mm in continuous configuration through direct rolling and further processed to Fully Finished products. The data suggests that Tembo Steels 0.8mm sheet’s tensile Strength to thickness Ratio is the highest among the imported materials of even 1 or 1.2mm thickness. Quality Strip Products by Tembo using direct rolling up to multiple operating modes in a single line for competitive hot strip production of high strength strips that attains more than 550 MPA/mm resulting in higher savings up to 50%. Tembo Steels also produces the lightest sections in Africa via direct rolling in a continuous 18 stand HV configuration for producing light sections with the best strength to weight ratio, minimizing the usage of the finished products, savings resources and CO2 reduction as a result. TMT: Tembo Steel achieves the best TS/YS ratio at par with the world capable of building a structure with savings up to 20% steel by achieving high strength steel.

• First Mini Convertor: Tembo Steels in 2004, innovated started successfully processing cast iron in the mini converter, being the first in the world to do so for an alternative raw material requirement for Africa. The optimal usage of this vast quantities of recyclable and reusable material has resulted in significant proportion of reduction of C02 that would come from blast furnaces shipped to Africa by other manufacturers.

1.  Scrap Preheating: Tembo Steels uses Biomass for preheating the scrap. This saves energy intensity in the segment.

12.      Plantation: Tembo Steels has taken an initiative and planted more than tens of thousands of trees and plants within and surrounding its plants to convert its facilities into a forest like atmosphere that can also reduce carbon levels.

Ultimate Industry Benchmark to Attain Carbon Neutrality By 2050 For Sustainable Growth of Steel Industry

Steel Making Route			Remarks
BF/BOF Primary Steel Making			High Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, therefore total elimination required to attain Carbon Neutrality
SCRAP/EF Secondary Steel Making			Best Route for Max GHG reduction but insufficient availability of Qty and quality scrap.
DRI/EF Primary Steel Making			Optimal route of Max GHG reduction in Short to Medium term

The Global vision of achieving 0.6 ton of CO2 /TCE by 2050 would only be possible with a mix of strategies and technologies put together based on the locations namely: i) Up to 80% and more elimination of BF/BOF route by 2050, ii) Adopting the DRI/EAF route by 60% and more, iii) Reduce Steel Consumption, iv) Usage of Renewable energy by 70% and more, v) Increase Steel Recycling, vi) Compact Layout, vii) Integration of all possible facilities in a singular location viii) Improvement of the overall quality of the steel as per the steel application requirements, ix) Surrounding the steel factories with thick forestation and water harvesting, x) Green H2 based process supported by renewable energy, xi) Create a demand for low emission steel, xii) Raise High Steel Premiums on low emission steel, xiii) Installation of Wind, Solar, Hydrogen facilities in-situ, wherever possible, xiv) Educate and create awareness of the green steel making process and its impact and xv) Create technology driven, smart factories.