Swiss Steel banks on hydropower

For its unit Steeltec, located in Emmenbrücke, Switzerland, Swiss Steel is now relying exclusively on regional hydropower to produce its special steels, Kallanish learns from the group.

A strategic partnership to this purpose was signed with Axpo Holding, the largest producer of electricity from hydropower in Switzerland. Under the terms of the contract, Axpo will supply the steel mill in Emmenbrücke until 2024, with electricity certifiably generated at hydropower stations from Axpo’s fleet of power plants and at a contractually agreed price. With this contract, Swiss Steel claims it is betting not only on sustainability and green electricity, but is also securing long-term planning for electricity costs.

The ecological footprint of the Emmenbrücke plant in 2020 was 63kg of CO2 per tonne of crude steel produced in Scopes 1 and 2 at its EAF furnaces. In switching to electricity provided by Swiss hydropower, Steeltec is using not just local energy, but also lowering its values further, the group says.

Apart from the Switzerland locations, Swiss Steel’s mill in Canada and bright steel production in Düsseldorf, Germany, are also producing steel entirely using electricity from renewable sources. Production in France is also being switched to renewable energy to meet customer demands, Swiss Steel notes.

Christian Koehl Germany