ArcelorMittal breaks ground on hydrogen-ready steelmaking project

ArcelorMittal has broken ground on its CAD$1.8 billion investment decarbonisation project at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The project, a partnership between ArcelorMittal and the governments of Canada and Ontario, which was first announced in July last year, will play an important role in ensuring the company makes progress this decade with its decarbonisation efforts and is part of ArcelorMittal’s target to reduce the carbon intensity of the steel it produces by 25% by 2030.

It also demonstrates the power of public and private partnerships to accelerate progress, which is vital if the target of limiting the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees is to be achieved. The governments of Canada and Ontario have committed CAD$400 million and CAD$500 million, respectively, to the overall project cost.

The project will fundamentally change how steel is made at ArcelorMittal Dofasco, transitioning the site to direct reduced iron-electric arc furnace (‘DRI-EAF’) steelmaking, which carries a considerably lower carbon footprint and removes coal from the ironmaking process. The new 2.5 million tonne capacity DRI furnace will initially operate on natural gas but will be constructed ‘hydrogen ready’ so it can be transitioned to utilise green hydrogen as a clean energy input as and when a sufficient, cost-effective supply of green hydrogen becomes available.

Since the project was initially announced last year, ArcelorMittal Dofasco has established a dedicated project team to manage its transition, completed significant pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) work and analysis of the equipment needed for its transformation.

The first onsite construction work will begin in January 2023, with the decommissioned No.1 Coke Plant demolition to make room for the new DRI plant. Demolition is anticipated to take up to nine months to complete.

Prime Minister Trudeau said, “By investing in ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s project to produce clean steel, we’re investing in the future of this plant and this industry. Together, we’re delivering real results: good, middle-class jobs, a strong economy, and clean air for today and generations to come.”

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said, “This project will enable ArcelorMittal Dofasco to produce cleaner, greener steel, while ensuring low-carbon manufacturing.”

Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said, “Our government is proud to support innovative projects like this as part of our plan to build Ontario, grow the province’s end-to-end EV supply chain and protect local jobs.”

Mr Lakshmi Mittal, ArcelorMittal Chairman, said, “This is the first full-scale decarbonisation project we have broken ground on since announcing our commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 and reduce carbon emissions intensity by 25% by 2030.

Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, said, “ArcelorMittal’s ambition is to lead the decarbonisation of the steel industry. Steel is a critical material that will sit at the heart of a decarbonised economy. It is a vital material for the renewable energy infrastructure, the electric vehicles and the low-carbon buildings that will build our zero-carbon world. The scale of this opportunity is significant, and we want to ensure that we can meet the demand this opportunity will bring with growing volumes of increasingly lower-carbon steel.

Ron Bedard, ArcelorMittal Dofasco CEO, said, “This project provides us with a tremendous opportunity to transition ArcelorMittal Dofasco into one of the world’s cleanest, lowest carbon and modern steel manufacturers.”