voestalpine has started to build it's 'digital' steel plant in Kapfenberg, Austria.
Starting from 2021, every year the fully digitalized plant will produce around 205,000 tons of sophisticated high-performance steels, for both aviation and automotive industries worldwide as well as for the oil & gas sector, while also securing more than 3,000 highly skilled jobs in the region over the long term. Preparations for the major project with an investment volume of up to €350 million are currently underway: the construction site is being prepared, with work focusing on energy supply and logistics infrastructure.
The innovative high-tech steel plant which, once operative, is intended to replace the existing voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG plant in Kapfenberg and designed to produce premium quality pre-materials for various industries, including: aircraft components, automotive tools, equipment for oil & gas extraction, and for the 3D printing of highly complex metal parts. "Today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant is not only a milestone for our Group, and Kapfenberg as a location, but also a positive signal for European industry, as this is the first investment in a completely new steel plant in decades. This investment provides voestalpine with an international technological lead and cost advantage in manufacturing high-performance steels, and allows us to remain globally competitive over the long term, even when producing at a traditional European location," says Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG.
Wolfgang EderWolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG states, "The basis for this is the comprehensive expertise of our employees in Styria which, in the end, was the decisive factor behind choosing this location."
International benchmark in digitalization and environmental protection
The state-of-the-art plant will set international standards in digitalized production processes. Around 8,000 process data will be recorded in parallel, and implemented or evaluated on an ongoing basis.
Franz Rotter, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the High Performance Metals Division: "The high degree of digitalization at the new special steel plant is the prerequisite for being able to supply our customers with even higher material qualities, and, in doing so, to further extend our global market leadership in tool and special steels. The relevant development work and qualifying our employees in robotics, sensor technology, and data analysis takes place at our own digitalization competence center located directly on the site of the plant."
The investment is also setting new standards in environmental protection: the centerpiece of the plant—an electric arc furnace which melts down ultra-pure scrap combined with various alloy metals into special steels—will operate using only electricity generated from renewables. In addition, an efficient recovery system ensures that the heat generated during the process is used within the plant, as well as being fed into the public district heating network. In terms of cooling the production facilities, using closed circuits allows the volume of cooling water to be reduced by up to 90 percent.
Structural preparations forging ahead
The site preparations for construction of the new production facility, on an existing plot adjacent to the work’s premises which is roughly the size of six soccer fields (around 50,000 m²), have been underway since fall 2017. This includes leveling the construction site, supplying the power in the form of two substations, and constructing access roads and assembly areas. The first contracts for hall construction and plant engineering are scheduled to be awarded this summer. Installation of the equipment is planned from 2019 onwards. The three-year construction phase will itself create up to 1,000 temporary jobs at the site.
Major project creating significant value
With an investment volume of around €350 million, the voestalpine project is having a significant economic impact: as an IWI study carried out in September 2017 shows, during the construction phase alone (2018–2021), about €240 million of gross value will be generated nationally, €145 million of which in Styria. All in all, the production value resulting from the project amounts to a total of around €575 million (of which in Styria: €375 million). The project indirectly secures 3,500 jobs in Austria during the construction phase, more than half of them in Styria.