steel production
The European Commission approves that Germany is investing 1.3 billion euros in a plan by steel group ArcelorMittal to make part of the country’s steel production more sustainable. The branch in Ghent received 280 million from the Belgian government to make it greener.
The European Commission has no objection to Germany investing 1.3 billion euros in a plan by steel group ArcelorMittal to make part of the country’s steel production more sustainable.
The subsidy from Germany will be used for the construction of a DRI oven and three electric ovens. With DRI technology, iron and steel are made with natural gas or hydrogen, instead of the coal that currently goes into a blast furnace. ArcelorMittal’s new DRI furnace will initially be fueled by natural gas and later entirely by renewable hydrogen, the Commission said. The installations will replace two of the three existing blast furnaces and two of the four associated steel mills in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany.
ArcelorMittal’s German greening plan should ultimately lead to CO₂ savings of 70 million tons in sixteen years. The European Commission also says that the steel group has promised to actively share the experience and technical knowledge it gains during the project with industry and science.
The Ghent site is also in the running for a major investment by ArcelorMittal in the construction of green blast furnaces. A declaration of intent to this effect was signed in 2021, and the Belgian government received the green light from Europe for a subsidy of 280 million.
However, doubts have arisen as to whether the final investment in Ghent will be completed, especially for the construction of the green DRI gas oven. ArcelorMittal’s branch in Dunkirk is also seeking investment from the parent group. The French government released 850 million euros in subsidies for this and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declared in June last year that Dunkirk had won the race to become the group’s first carbon-neutral steel factory in Europe.
The German subsidy will increase the tension around the fate of ArcelorMittal Gent even more. (ls, blg)
