Nucor today introduced Elcyon, the company's new sustainable heavy gauge steel plate product made specifically to meet the growing demands of America's offshore wind energy producers building the green economy and its necessary infrastructure.
Nucor will manufacture Elcyon at the company's new, $1.7 billion state-of-the-art Nucor Brandenburg steel mill in Kentucky, which produced its first steel plate at the end of December 2022.
In a press release, Nucor said Elcyon is a clean, advanced steel product made using the company’s recycled scrap-based electric arc furnace manufacturing process. Nucor's circular steelmaking route has a greenhouse gas emissions intensity that is one fifth the global blast furnace extractive steelmaking average, based on Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Utilizing Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Processing (TMCP) at the new mill, Elcyon, was created specifically to meet the rigorous quality standards of offshore wind energy designers, manufacturers and fabricators. Along with meeting Euronorm specs, Elcyon is characterized by larger plate dimensions, improved weldability and excellent fracture toughness, as compared to competing products.
Nucor said Elcyon will be an essential component of the supply chain to continue developing our nation's offshore wind power infrastructure. The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $300 billion for clean energy development and climate programs, supports the Biden Administration's goal to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. This could result in approximately 7.5 million tons of additional steel demand and create enough clean energy to power 10 million homes, Nucor said.
The new mill is located in the middle of the largest steel plate-consuming region in the country and will be able to produce 97% of plate products consumed domestically, with a potential output of 1.2 million tons of steel annually. Nucor expects to offer Elcyon in a wide range of plate grades and sizes, working closely with end users to meet their unique needs and specifications.