ArcelorMittal will convert the blast furnaces at its Eisenhüttenstadt mill to operate on natural gas, to make the production of steel products more sustainable. To this end, it has also forged a cooperation with Leipzig-based utility VNG (Verbundnetzgas) Handel & Vertrieb, Kallanish learns from the steelmaker.
ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt initially plans to reduce CO2 emissions in steel production by around -5% per year from 2021 through the conversion of fuels for the blast furnaces. To achieve this, it will use natural gas in the blast furnace to reduce coal requirement.
Apart from cutting CO2 emissions, the conversion will also bring down energy costs, the steelmaker claims. The furnace conversion is scheduled for completion by mid-2021, with the cost of this investment amounting to around €4 million ($4.9m).
Also, together with VNG, AM Eisenhüttenstadt intends to add CO2-neutral hydrogen in a later step, as soon as it is available in sufficient quantities and at economic cost. This goes together with the group’s European climate strategy to cut CO2 emissions by -30% until 2030, and to have climate-neutral production by 2050.
