The financial support is subject to approval by the EU competition authority.
“With our group strategy XCarb, we are working on a groundbreaking project for the future of steel production … in Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt,” CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe — Flat Products, Reiner Blaschek said.
“After a long period of evaluation by the authorities, we are happy to be able to take the next step towards climate-neutral steel production in Germany with this news from the federal government: the first hurdle has been overcome. By using green hydrogen, we could save more than 6.3 million mt of CO2 annually by 2030 and produce 3.4 million mt of CO2-reduced steel in both plants.”
The plan is to build electric arc furnaces in Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt, which will eventually be powered by renewable electricity and increased use of recycled scrap should produce steel.
In addition, a direct reduction plant is to be built in Bremen in which the preliminary product sponge iron will be produced from iron ore, initially with natural gas and, in the long term, with green hydrogen.
Sponge iron is to be used in Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt for steel production to reduce emissions even further.
As a first step, ArcelorMittal aims to reduce CO2 emissions by around 60% by 2030.
Company executives said the next main issue will be to have sufficient quantities of renewable energy and green hydrogen at competitive prices.
