ArcelorMittal has obtained the first European aid for the green transformation plan from its factory in Gijón. At the moment they are only 7.5 million euros between direct subsidies and loans to address environmental improvements at the future electric steel mill. The company is still awaiting the approval of the European Commission for aid of 500 million euros that will make it possible to address the investment of 1,000 million to decarbonise the steel facilities in Gijón and guarantee its future.
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism has just published the final resolution proposal for the line of aid for innovation and sustainability in the field of industry manufacturing in 2022 within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. 76 projects have benefited that will receive a public investment of European funds of 115 million euros between loans and grants.
In the list of beneficiaries there is only one project in Asturias, the one presented by ArcelorMittal for the environmental improvement of the future electric steelworks in Gijón. The planned investment is almost 9.4 million euros and the company has obtained a grant of 939,812 euros and a loan of 6,578,688 euros. In total there are more than 7.5 million that exceed the 6 million that Industry had initially authorized in the provisional list of the call.
It is the first aid from European funds for the decarbonization of ArcelorMittal in Asturias waiting for the planned 500 million euros to address the replacement project for one of the two blast furnaces in Gijón. That facility will be replaced by a direct iron ore reduction plant (DRI system) using green hydrogen and by a hybrid electric arc furnace powered by pre-reduced iron, scrap and renewable energy. Sources from the European Commission indicated that the go-ahead for public support to address this investment of 1,000 million euros will arrive before the end of the year. It is establishing a financing scheme that is not considered as State aid that interferes with competition.
The aid that Arcelor has just obtained is for improvements in that future green steel mill. Specifically, for the cooling and dedusting system of the electric arc furnace, for an injector of pre-reduced iron fines (DRI) directly into the furnace and for the so-called ‘elephant house’, which is an encapsulation with soundproof panels of the complete cubicle of the electric furnace, attached to the structure of the steelworks, which includes the waiting area for the scrap baskets.
