Nucor announced today that it has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to capture, transport, and store carbon from the company's direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in Convent, Louisiana. ExxonMobil will capture up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 from the DRI plant and store the CO2 at an ExxonMobil-owned facility in Louisiana.
In a press release, the company said the project is expected to start-up in 2026 and supports Louisiana's objective of reaching net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
The company said the circular nature of remelting recycled scrap in electric arc furnaces means that Nucor's steel mills generate roughly two-thirds less than the carbon dioxide of extractive blast furnace steelmaking plants, even when accounting for Scope 3 emissions, which include all upstream and downstream emissions in the supply chain. Nucor said it is one of the first steel companies to disclose its Scope 3 emissions, adding that this carbon capture and storage agreement with ExxonMobil furthers Nucor's status as a sustainability leader and builds on the innovation that has enabled the company to produce steel and steel products with low embodied carbon.
"This transformative CCS project with ExxonMobil is a key part of our decarbonization strategy and will result in some of the lowest embodied carbon DRI or HBI in North America," said Leon Topalian, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation. "We are taking a multi-faceted approach to decarbonization, and this partnership builds on previous investments we have made in a carbon-free iron start-up, renewable energy generation, and the development of small modular nuclear reactor technology."
"This collaboration with Nucor is the latest example of how we're delivering on our mission to help accelerate the world's path to net zero," said Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon, ExxonMobil. "We look forward to applying our technology and expertise to reducing emissions for Nucor."