The European Commission authorised, on Friday 17 February, a €460 million Spanish measure to support ArcelorMittal España (ArcelorMittal) in partially decarbonising its steel production processes in Gijón (two blast furnaces producing liquid hot metal from a mixture of iron ore, coke and limestone).
The aid, which will take the form of a direct grant, will support the construction of a renewable hydrogen-based direct reduced iron plant.
Equipped with a new electric arc furnace, the plant will replace the existing blast furnace. Natural gas, initially used in the gas mix, will be gradually phased out of the steel production processes. The plant will ultimately run on renewable hydrogen with syngas produced from waste and metallurgical gases.
The plant is envisioned to start operating by the end of 2025 and it is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes of low-carbon direct reduced iron per year. Once completed, the project is expected to avoid the release of 70.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. ArcelorMittal has committed to share the technical know-how gained from the project with other European steel producers. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)