Voestalpine builds new special steel plant in Kapfenberg to cut emissions

Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine has announced that its subsidiary Voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl has built a new special steel plant in Kapfenberg to recover heat and utilize waste heat in order to reduce carbon emissions. The groundbreaking for the plant was held in 2018. The plant will produce around 205,000 mt of ultra high-quality special steel per year, as of 2021.

The new design involves installing heat recovery systems on the vacuum AOD convertor and electric arc furnace. This new process generates even more heat than the new special sheet plant itself needs. According to the company, feeding around 20,000 MWh of this surplus heat into the public heating network allows the municipality of Kapfenberg to reduce its natural gas consumption, resulting in an annual carbon reduction of more than 4,000 mt.

“We are actively striving to achieve environmentally friendly and purposeful production, paired with the conscientious use of valuable resources. That’s why we placed special emphasis on environmental protection when planning our new special steel plant. Air and wastewater treatment plants are state-of-the-art, meeting the most stringent environmental regulations. High-capacity heat recovery systems also help reduce emissions,” Michael Ebner, head of environment & investments at voestalpine BÖHLER Edelstahl, said.