How Bokaro Steel Plant modernized its supervisory load control centre using ETAP SCADA

The project is to upgrade the existing SLCC system for power distribution at the Bokaro Steel Plant. The network ETAP Real-Time installation and integration is the software installation and integration. We had to provide the hardware in the field, control center hardware like IT hardware, and a rack supply for the multifunction meter.
By Sushil Ojha, Assistant General Manager at ETAP India

SAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant, one of India’s largest integrated steel production sites, needed to modernize its outdated Supervisory Load Control Centre (SLCC). The legacy system lacked centralized visibility, produced manual reports, had no unified alarm management, and relied on a non-redundant communication network. ETAP delivered a comprehensive modernization: a full ETAP Real-Time SCADA platform, 27,000+ tags integrated into a central control room, 44 substations connected via dedicated fiber, 400+ engineered HMI pages, updated field hardware, and end-to-end operator training. The project significantly improved operational reliability, situational awareness, and data-driven decision-making.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is a public sector steel manufacturing corporation based in New Delhi. It is the largest government-owned steel producer. SAIL operates and owns five integrated steel plants across India. It also has an R&D Centre for Iron & Steel and a Centre for Engineering. Bokaro Steel has provided a strong raw material base for various modern engineering industries, including automobile, pipe and tube, LPG cylinder, barrel, and drum producing industries.

Location: Bokaro, Jharkhand, India

Year: 2022

Upgrade the existing supervisory load control system of Bokaro Steel Plan

Challenges

  • Legacy reporting was fully manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors
  • The communication network was non-digital and non-redundant, limiting system reliability
  • Alarms and events were not centralized, making troubleshooting inefficient
  • The plant lacked effective maximum-demand monitoring, a critical issue for steel producers
  • The SLCC did not provide unified visibility over its 44 substations and service stations
  • Incident analysis and root-cause identification were difficult due to missing playback tools
  • The electrical system model was outdated - the plant had not performed a load-flow study since 1995

Which solutions did they choose?

Selected applications

ETAP Real-Time SCADA

  • Deployment of a complete ETAP SCADA system
  • Integration of 27,000+ data tags into the central SLCC
  • Engineering of 400+ HMI pages for operators covering one-line diagrams, feeders, alarms, system health, and analytics
  • Implementation of trending, dashboards, advanced alarming, maximum-demand logic, and automated reporting

ETAP Digital Twin

  • Rebuilding the electrical network model, replacing decades-old documentation
  • Enabling load-flow analysis, N-1/N-2 contingency evaluations, event playback, and what-if simulations
  • Creating a modern digital twin for ongoing planning and operations

Field hardware & networking upgrades

  • Deployment of MFMs, MFTs, RTUs, transducers, and switches
  • Construction of a redundant fiber-optic backbone interconnecting all 44 substations

OPC integration

  • Implementation of an OPC link to SLDC Kolkata for real-time exchange of grid and system data

Why do they use ETAP?

Main customer benefits

Centralized, real-time visibility. A unified SCADA system now aggregates alarms, events, and electrical measurements for all 44 substations.

Automated reporting. Energy, demand, event, and operational reports are generated automatically and can be emailed or scheduled.

Maximum demand monitoring. A dedicated page with plant-specific logic helps operators track and manage demand, reducing penalties and improving planning.

Load-flow and contingency analysis (N-1, N-2). Operators can simulate upcoming maintenance scenarios and outages and verify the system’s stability before execution.

Event playback & root-cause analysis. Historical events can be replayed to understand sequences leading to faults or abnormal conditions.

Intelligent SLD (iSLD). Operators access an interactive one-line diagram with real-time measurements and system status.

Reliable, redundant communication architecture. The new fiber-optic network provides high availability and robust connectivity across all substations.

Operator competency improvement. ETAP delivered extensive training, increasing the autonomy and confidence of SLCC personnel.

What do they think about ETAP?

Customer perspectives

Earlier, reports were manual. Since using ETAP, the reports and analysis have become much faster, and the government’s maximum-demand requirements are met more efficiently.

By SLCC Operations Team

ETAP SCADA helped us modernize the infrastructure and integrate all substations into a centralized control system with higher visibility and reliability.

By Engineering Team, Bokaro Steel Plant



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Upgrading Bokaro Steel Plant's existing Supervisory Load Control Centre System with ETAP SCADA

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is one of the largest steel-making companies in India and one of the Maharatnas of the country’s Central Public Sector Enterprises. ETAP was selected to upgrade the existing SLCC (Supervisory Load Control Centre) System for Power Distribution of Bokaro Steel Plant. This presentation will give insights into the project scope and deployment: The SCADA/PDMS system shall monitor and control the Distribution & Sub-Distribution stations and achieve the SCADA/PDMS functions, integrated with the SLCC control center. Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) is having a client/server architecture-based SCADA System for monitoring and controlling of generation, import, and distribution of power through SLCC Control room at MSDS-I. The SLCC system is also connected to a central SLCC system located in Kolkata. RTUs for substations will be installed in various locations which are connected through a dedicated fiber-optic network to the server.


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