The European Commission has announced that it has approved two measures to support Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal in its decarbonization path.
Accordingly, the company’s subsidiary ArcelorMittal España will receive €460 million in funding for its project aimed at partially decarbonizing its steel production in Gijón, northern Spain. The funding will support the construction of a renewable hydrogen-based direct reduced iron plant. Together with a new electric arc furnace, the plant will substitute the current blast furnace. Natural gas will be gradually phased out of the steel production processes. Ultimately, the plant will be operated using renewable hydrogen with syngas produced from waste and metallurgical gases. The plant is scheduled to start operating by the end of 2025 and it is expected to annually produce 2.3 million mt of low-carbon direct reduced iron. Once completed, the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 70.9 million metric tons.
In addition, ArcelorMittal Hamburg to receive €55 million in funding for building a demonstration plant for the production of green steel using renewable hydrogen. The plant will have an annual capacity of 100,000 mt of direct reduced iron. The plant is scheduled to start operating in 2026. Once completed, the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 700,000 metric tons in total.
The two measures will contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal targets, while helping to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition.
