Holding 50% of its assets out of Brazil, Gerdau moves forward with its internationalization process by building a new plant in Mexico, expected to go into operation in the second half of next year. The plant will have an annual installed capacity of one million tons of steel and 700 thousand tons of laminates. The investment of US$ 600 million is made by means of the Gerdau Corsa joint venture and is focused on the production of profiles for civil construction. WEG Mexico was selected to be the global supplier of the main electric equipment which ensure the steel plant operation, such as a complete substation, dry-type and furnace transformers.
The unit is still in the phase of civil works and will be built in an area of 240 hectares in Sahagún City, Hidalgo State. Gerdau trades products in the five continents and keeps industrial operations in 14 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. “The steel production depends on electric power. It is necessary to have a substation and prepare all the energy input in order to use the plant. The equipment is essential and critical for the operation”, says Renato Borsato, Gerdau Procurement General Manager.
According to the executive, they are important and complex applications, since nowadays the energy input is expensive and scarce. “It is necessary to have equipment with good performance so as to prevent waste and difficulties in the use of the resource”, he points out.
Borsato explains that the new unit will be a steel plant with state-of-the-art technology and low production costs in order to obtain greater competitiveness on the Mexican market. WEG’s presence in Mexico was decisive for its selection as supplier. Besides the competitiveness factor, the two companies have been partners for a long time. “Gerdau also sells steel products for the motor production. All that leads to a closer relationship between the companies,” says the executive.
Package Supplied:
Substation:
> Yard Equipments 230, 34,5 e 13,8kV
> 1 Oil Transformer of 160MVA 230/34.5 kV
> 1 Oil Transformer of 70MVA 230/13.8 kV
> 1 Oil Transformer of 160MVA 230/34.5 rel 13.8 kV
> Services: projects and studies, civil works, electromechanical assembly, commissioning and installation materials.
Transformers:
> 2 Special transformers for furnaces and rectification System of 100MVA 34.5/1.170~0.69 kV
> 1 Special transformers for furnaces and rectification System of 32MVA 34.5/0.44~0.30 kV
> 2 Dry Transformers of 10MVA 13.8/6.9kV
> 18 Dry Transformers of 2.5MVA 13.8/0.46kV
