The European steel industry is on an ambitious path to cut carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels (equivalent to over -30% compared to 2018 levels), and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The above map shows examples of key low-CO₂ projects that can help to achieve a substantial reduction of CO₂ emissions in the EU steel industry. These projects (currently 60, but numbers grow by the month) will almost all start before 2030 and have the potential of reducing CO₂ emissions by 81.5 million tons per year by 2030. This is equivalent to a cut of more than 1/3 of direct and indirect CO₂ emissions of the European steel industry in just eight years from now, in line with the EU climate targets.

All these projects have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of at least 7 out of 9.

The financial needs until 2030 are estimated today at €31 billion for capital expenditures (CAPEX) and €54 billion for operating expenditures (OPEX), totalling €85 billion.

The successful transition of the EU steel industry towards CO₂ neutrality by 2050 depends on the availability of cost competitive low-CO₂ energy carriers (especially electricity and hydrogen) and related infrastructure (including for CO₂ transport and storage).

The above projects will require annually about 75 TWh electricity for the operation of steel processes and about 2.12 million tonnes of hydrogen (corresponding to about 90 TWh of electricity, if this hydrogen is produced via water electrolysis), which means in total about 165 TWh of decarbonised electricity by 2030. This is the equivalent of the double of Belgium's yearly consumption.

This corresponds also to an increase of 100% of today’s electricity consumption of the EU steel industry. Currently, the EU steel industry consumes annually about 75 TWh of electricity, which are partly purchased from the external grid and partly self-generated through gas power plants using process gases of the steel industry as well as through top-gas recovery turbines.

The steel sector is at highest risk of carbon leakage and the most impacted by unilateral climate policy among energy intensive industries[1]. In this context, ensuring a level playing field with third country competitors is essential for the transition to climate neutrality of this sector; the success of the above low-CO₂ steel projects and their envisaged emissions reduction require a supportive legislative framework that effectively addresses carbon leakage both during and after their implementation.

EUROFER will regularly update the projects map, taking into account ongoing developments.

[1] European Commission, In-Depth Analysis in Support of the Commission Communication COM(2018) 773 “A Clean Planet for all - A European long-term strategic vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy” page 221