Industry in Luxembourg: ArcelorMittal wants to enter “a new era” for the planet
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Industry in Luxembourg ArcelorMittal wants to enter “a new era” for the planet
LUXEMBOURG – ArcelorMittal has presented a “roadmap” to achieve carbon neutral steel production. An ambition worth millions of euros.
This is an announcement that could not have come at a better time. While climate change has been a significant cross-cutting concern for several weeks, ArcelorMittal presented its plan on Tuesday to reduce the impact of the steel industry in terms of CO2 emissions. The objective is even to achieve complete decarbonization “before 2050” in Luxembourg. 100 million euros will first be invested to install, between 2023 and 2024, a new electric furnace, a degassing system and modernize continuous casting at the Belval steelworks.
“This investment will enable better energy efficiency and an increase in steel production capacity of nearly 15%, to reach 2.5 million tonnes of steel per year”, explains Roland Bastian, Technical Director of ArcelorMittal Europe Products. A long time. The Bissen site will also be modernized “in several stages”, to become “the first carbon-neutral site of the ArcelorMittal Wire Solutions division”.
To achieve this decarbonization, the steel giant promises to quickly replace natural gas in its furnaces with green hydrogen and an electric induction system. All installations will also be gradually approved for renewable electricity. Finally, the research center, which is currently in Esch-sur-Alzette, will be relocated to Belval, for better interaction with the Uni and LIST. Arcelor Mittal speaks of a “pole of innovation”.
Financial support from the Ministry of the Economy
“Projects which aimed to project the Luxembourg steel industry into a new era, 25 years after the replacement of the last blast furnaces by electric furnaces”, ambitioned with the same voice, Tuesday, Geert van Poelvoorde, Vice-president of ArcelorMittal and Managing Director for the Europe zone, and Michel Wurth, President of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg. An agreement will allow financial support from the Ministry of the Economy for this transition, up to 40% for decarbonization, and between 20 and 30% co-financing for research and development projects.
“It is extremely positive and completely aligned with our economic and environmental ambitions. This project will make Luxembourg a precursor site”, noted Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy on Tuesday. But how to avoid announcement effects? “All this must be framed very strictly. There is more and more traceability on decarbonization in industrial production, it is obvious that all of this will be checked”, answers Franz Fayot.