Luxembourg-based steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced that it has broken ground on C$1.8 billion investment decarbonization project at its Canadian subsidiary ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s plant in Hamilton, Ontario.
The project will reduce annual carbon emissions at ArcelorMittal’s Hamilton operations by approximately three million mt within the next seven years, while transitioning away from the blast furnace steelmaking production route to the direct reduced iron (DRI)-electric arc furnace (EAF) production route.
The company has chosen Italy-based Tenova for the supply of Energiron® DRI (direct reduced iron) plant, which is the technology developed jointly by Tenova and Italian plantmaker Danieli. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 2.5 million mt of DRI. The construction work will begin in January 2023, with the demolition of the decommissioned No.1 coke plant to make room for the new DRI plant. Demolition is anticipated to take up to nine months to complete.
In addition to the new DRI facility, the project also involves the construction of an EAF capable of producing 2.4 million mt of high-quality steel through ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s existing casting and rolling facilities.
Construction on the new assets will be complete in 2026. The transition to new steelmaking process will be complete by 2028.