ArcelorMittal to convert its Sestao site into full-scale zero-carbon steel plant
ArcelorMittal has revealed it will be harnessing green hydrogen and renewable electricity to ensure its Sestao plant in Spain will achieve zero carbon emissions.
The development is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed with the Government of Spain that will see an investment of €1 billion in the construction of a green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) plant at its plant in Gijón, as well as a new hybrid-electric arc furnace (EAF).
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By 2025, the Sestao plant – which manufactures a range of flat steel products for the automotive and construction sectors as well as general industry – is set to produce 1.6 million tonnes of zero carbon-emissions steel.
Central to this development will be the construction of a 2.3 million-tonne green hydrogen DRI unit in Gijón. Around 1 million tonnes of DRI will be transported to Sestao to be used as feedstock for its two EAFs.
The national and the Basque governments' support in this project is crucial, given the significant cost associated with the transition to carbon-neutral steelmaking.
The support will also enable ArcelorMittal to have access to green hydrogen supplied through a consortium of companies building the infrastructure required in order to produce hydrogen in the Iberian Peninsula using solar‑powered electrolysis and to transport it directly through a system of pipelines.
In addition to the investments in the DRI and EAF installations in Gijón, ArcelorMittal will invest €50 million in Sestao. This will fund the introduction of key emerging technologies required to bring the plant to zero carbon emissions.
Aditya Mittal, CEO ArcelorMittal, commented: "It is widely understood that for the world to achieve net-zero by 2050, faster progress over the next decade is essential. Having announced a net-zero target for 2050, we, therefore, set ourselves the challenge to identify how we could take an existing steel plant to zero carbon emissions within the next five years."
"Our teams have been working incredibly hard to turn this ambition into the plan that we have just announced. This is a hugely significant development and demonstrates what can be achieved through investment in existing steelmaking infrastructure. ArcelorMittal will be the first company in the world to be in a position to offer its customers meaningful volumes of zero carbon-emissions steel."
ArcelorMittal Europe has a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030, and an ambition to be net-zero by 2050. The company is pursuing two pathways to achieve this: Innovative DRI and Smart Carbon.
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ArcelorMittal Spain’s operations are already contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions from the company’s steelmaking operations. Earlier this year, ArcelorMittal Asturias completed its project to capture hydrogen-rich coke oven gas and re-inject it into the blast furnace, replacing some of the coke used in the blast furnace.
Deploying this innovative technology will result in a reduction in CO2 emissions of 125,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to the emissions generated by the annual consumption of 84,000 Spanish households with individual natural gas-based heating systems.
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