Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation has announced that it plans to develop a large-scale electric arc furnace and expand the use of hydrogen in steelmaking in the coming years as part of the company’s “Carbon Neutral Vision 2050” project which aims to achieve decarbonization. The company aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 percent in 2030 compared to the levels recorded in 2013, combining the use of scrap and direct reduced iron as feedstock for the electric arc furnace, which will be powered by carbon-free electricity.
Accordingly, Nippon Steel is investing in building an electric arc furnace at its Hirohata plant, which is scheduled to start operating in the first half of 2022. The electric arc furnace will replace one of its existing blast furnaces. Nippon Steel plans to reduce the annual production capacity at its 10 blast furnaces by 40 million mt by April 2025.
Nippon Steel also aims to ramp up development of a direct hydrogen-reduction steelmaking process before 2050.
According to the company’s statement, AM/NS Calvert, a joint venture between Nippon Steel Corporation and ArcelorMittal located in Alabama in the US, plans to commission a new electric arc furnace during the first half of 2023, within the frame of Nippon Steel’s decarbonization plans.
Nippon Steel had stated that it will shut down its blast furnaces with the aim of helping to achieve the country’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050, as SteelOrbis previously reported.