ArcelorMittal Spain’s hybrid EAF project awaits EC approval

ArcelorMittal confirms its significant investment in Spain has entered its last pre-execution phase. The approval of financial support for the decarbonisation of the company’s steelmaking sites in Asturias and Sestao, in the Basque Country, must now be evaluated by the European Commission after receiving a green light from its competition regulator.

“There is no approval of the project yet,” an ArcelorMittal spokesperson tells Kallanish. “The Commission’s Directorate General for Competition gave a positive evaluation, and the final decision is up to the EC, which must now rule on the financing within a period of two months.”

The €1 billion ($1.08 billion) project, which is a priority for the steelmaker’s CO2 emissions reduction goals in Europe, will be co-funded by the Spanish government. It includes constructing a 2.3 million tonnes/year green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron unit, complemented by a 1.1m t/y hybrid electric arc furnace. The new DRI unit will be the first of its kind in Spain and will also feed the company’s Sestao works.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria