Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced that Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer Vestas will use its low-carbon steel XCarb® to significantly reduce the lifetime carbon emissions from the production of wind turbine towers. The first project Vestas will be providing, using low-carbon emission steel, is an offshore wind farm, built by Baltic Power in Poland, which is expected to generate and supply up to 1.2 GW of clean energy to more than 1.5 million households in the country.
The low-carbon steel is produced completely using steel scrap which is melted in an electric arc furnace powered by wind energy at ArcelorMittal’s Industeel Charleroi mill in Belgium. Slabs are then transformed into heavy plates that will be used for the manufacture of wind turbine towers at the company’s heavy plate mill in Spain. These heavy plates are initially suitable for entire onshore wind turbine towers and the top section of offshore wind turbine towers.
Using low-carbon steel in the top sections of an offshore tower reduces emissions by 25 percent compared to a tower made from conventionally produced steel.
