According to Green Steel World, voestalpine has announced that it intends to launch an electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Donawitz site soon. This move means that the production of electric steel using green electricity will be combined with the traditional blast furnace process from 2027. As a result, it is expected that a blast furnace can be shut down from 2029. Subject to resolving the remaining financial issues, around €100 million will be invested in the further expansion of the EAF plant by 2030. This will enable the group to fully switch to electric steel production at the Donawitz site from 2030.
The next expansion stage will enable the voestalpine Group to achieve a further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at Donawitz from 2030, of more than 90 percent compared to the base year 2019. Herbert Eibensteiner, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG, stated: “With the largest climate action program in Austria, greentec steel, we are setting new global standards for the next generation of steel production. We are progressing according to plan and within budget, and will complete the next expansion stage at the Donawitz site by 2030. We intend to produce steel with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions from 2030.”
The EAF plant currently under construction will be capable of producing around 850,000 tons of steel with reduced greenhouse gas emissions per year from 2027. With the expansion, production capacity will increase to up to 1.5 million tons of steel with reduced greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2030. The investment budget for the capacity expansion, which has already been approved by the voestalpine AG supervisory board, amounts to around €100 million and is intended, among other things, for further enhancing the power supply, building a third secondary metallurgy line, and expanding waste logistics. There are still some remaining financial issues that need to be resolved before construction can begin.