Tata Steel reduces emissions and energy consumption with thermal storage
Tata Steel has installed a thermal storage system at its steelworks in Jamshedpur, in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The system, manufactured by Kraftblock, captures the waste heat from the sinter cooler, stores it efficiently and reuses it in the sintering process. By recovering waste heat at high temperatures, the technology reduces energy consumption and emissions in one of the most energy-intensive stages of steel production and serves as a key driver for decarbonisation.
The storage system at Sinter Plant 3 has a capacity of 20 MWh and can store waste heat at a maximum temperature of around 500 °C. This enables a reduction of around 110 GWh of natural gas, with associated CO₂ emissions of 22,000 tonnes per year, whilst improving energy efficiency and operational stability. Furthermore, as Tata Steel noted in its annual report, the system accelerates the sintering process. The plant has been in operation since May 2025 and was awarded the ‘Deployed Solution of the Year’ prize in December 2025 as part of Tata Steel’s Total Quality Management (TQM) programme.
The waste heat originates from the cooling section of the sintering plant, where hot lumps of sintered iron ore are cooled after being heated to extremely high temperatures. The heat is collected and filtered before the electricity, with a maximum output of 1.5 MW, is fed into two power-block thermal storage units. When required, the stored heat is returned to the sintering plant. The system has a maximum discharge capacity of 1.8 MW.
Improving process efficiency
“At Tata Steel, we are committed to decarbonising steel production. The Kraftblock heat storage system at our Jamshedpur sintering plant demonstrates how alternative energy solutions can capture and reuse waste heat from one of the most energy-intensive stages of steel production. By utilising this waste heat, we can significantly reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and associated emissions, whilst simultaneously improving process efficiency. “This project is an important step towards a more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and cost-effective steel industry,” says Subodh Pandey, VP Technology, R&D, NMB and Graphene.
In May 2025, construction of the plant – including the filter, pipework, stack and power block storage – was completed and the system was successfully commissioned. A few months later, the system was operating reliably and, as promised, contributing to energy savings and emissions reductions at the Jamshedpur sintering plant.
“The project at Tata Steel demonstrates the excellent feasibility of heat recovery and heat storage in the steel industry. There are many applications in steel production, from furnaces to flaring. With our sustainable thermal storage systems, we are supporting the steel industry in its efforts to become more energy- and cost-efficient,” says Martin Schichtel, CEO and co-founder of Kraftblock.
According to Tata Steel’s 2024/25 Integrated Report: “Waste heat recovery (WHR) and its utilisation make a significant contribution to improving process efficiency and achieving cost savings. As part of its efforts to explore groundbreaking WHR solutions, Tata Steel collaborated with Kraft Block GmbH, a German start-up that offers environmentally friendly and modular thermal storage systems.”
Source: Kraftblock