Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal has announced that it plans to construct the world’s first industrial-scale low-temperature iron electrolysis plant in cooperation with Belgium-based engineering company John Cockerill.
The Volteron™ plant, with an initial annual production capacity of 40,000-80,000 mt of iron plates, is scheduled to start production in 2027. ArcelorMittal plans to increase the plant’s annual capacity to between 300,000 mt and one million mt.
The plant will use a carbon-free, cold direct electrolysis process that extracts iron from iron ore. The iron plates created during the electrolysis process are then processed into steel in an electric arc furnace.
