At a press conference after the Cabinet, government spokesperson Isabel Rodríguez underlined that this is an “important deal for the country as a strategic sector such as the steel industry” and also in the process of transforming these industries, making them more sustainable. These aids for the transformation project of the steel group’s facilities in Asturias will be financed within the framework of the Perte industrial decarbonization programme.
at the end of January, The government has received positive ‘preliminary notification’ from the European Commission’s DG Competition. Assistance requested by ArcelorMittal in carrying out the modernization plan of its facilities in Asturias.
Likewise, Rodríguez evaluated the importance of this project in terms of employment. Maintaining over 6,000 jobsas well as for its singular character, for its use as hydrogen renewable energy In the steel industry sector, he stated that “there is no such example in our country and such projects are waiting to be developed in Europe and other countries around us”. For this reason, he evaluated Spain as “the first country where this important project will be realized”.
Production of ‘green steel’ using hydrogen
this project will allow the company to produce ‘green steel’ in industrial centers in Asturias and the Basque Country. Through the use of hydrogen produced by renewable energy.
Thus, ArcelorMittal will not only contribute to the decarbonisation of its business, but will also help accelerate the decarbonisation of its sub-industries and other sectors of activity.
Arcelor’s plan includes the following measures: to increase their competitiveness with new investmentsLike the new electric furnace at the Gijón plant, the green hydrogen direct iron ore reduction (DRI) plant at the same plant, and the possibility of a new electric furnace at Avilés. The company is also participating in the HyDeal project, which will make it possible to make the Cantabrian coast the world’s most important green hydrogen ‘centre’.