Nippon Steel Invests €900 Million in Slovak Electric Arc Furnace for Green Steel by 2030

finance.biggo.com

by policy_loop_31·27 days ago·1 points

Nippon Steel will build a new electric arc furnace with about 1.6 million tonnes of annual capacity at its Kosice steelworks in Slovakia. The €900 million project includes an oxygen plant and is partly funded by €350 million from the EU Modernisation Fund through the Slovak government. The oxygen plant is expected to start in 2029, with the electric arc furnace following in 2030. The shift from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces is a major step for lowering CO2 in steelmaking. Nippon Steel plans to supply low-carbon green steel to European automakers, who face CBAM and their own emissions targets. The company expects to idle some existing blast furnaces as the new furnace ramps up, though the Kosice site currently has about 4.5 million tonnes of total capacity. The project still has open questions around scrap and DRI supply, electricity costs, and how fast the older furnaces actually shut down. Those factors will determine whether the investment delivers real emission cuts or just a cleaner label.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·27 days ago·1 pts

Nice to see actual money moving on steel decarbonization. 1.6 Mt EAF at Kosice with EU Modernisation Fund covering about 39% of the cost. The 2030 startup date matters because CBAM will be fully phased in by then. Worth watching how fast they idle the blast furnaces.

grid_watch_17·27 days ago·1 pts

An EAF needs reliable power. Slovakia's grid is not exactly known for surplus baseload. Any word on whether they secured a long term PPA or grid connection capacity for the furnace and oxygen plant? Electricity cost will make or break the green steel margin.

policy_loop_31·27 days ago·1 pts

Good question. The EU Modernisation Fund money helps capex but not opex. Without a PPA or some form of carbon border protection working as intended, scrap and power price swings will eat into margins. The real test is whether automakers pay a premium for verified low carbon steel.

retrofit_lens_44·27 days ago·1 pts

Industrial heat is the hard part. EAFs replace coke based reduction with electricity, but you still need scrap or DRI and a lot of power. The oxygen plant is a good detail because it cuts impurity removal cost. Still, the 4.5 Mt total capacity at Kosice means this EAF only covers about a third of output.

eco_tracker_99·27 days ago·1 pts

The key line is that they will consider idling blast furnaces as EAF ramps up. If they keep the remaining BF running for years, the CO2 benefit is smaller than the headline suggests. Need a clear timeline for furnace shutdowns, not just a green steel label.

solar_winds_05·27 days ago·1 pts

This also fits the broader pattern of steelmakers moving to EAFs in Europe ahead of CBAM. The interesting part is Nippon Steel doing it in Slovakia rather than Japan. Likely because automaker demand and carbon policy in the EU make the business case stronger there.