Air Liquide and ArcelorMittal have joined forces to transform the steel production process through the development of innovative solutions such as low-carbon hydrogen and carbon capture.
The two companies today (17th March) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project that will focus on ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk, France site to help decarbonise the Dunkirk industrial basin.
Under the agreement, ArcelorMittal will combine two steel production technologies, direct reduce iron (DRI) and submerged arc furnace, in dimensions never seen before. As a low-carbon technology, the DRI and submerged arc furnace unit will enable the production of steel with lower CO2 emissions.
Air Liquide will support the strategic initiative through the massive supply of low-carbon hydrogen and the implementation of CO2 capture technologies, two areas in which the industrial gas giant holds a lot of unique expertise.
“Decarbonising the Industry is at the heart of Air Liquide’s strategy and we are committed to accompanying our customers with a wide range of innovative solutions,” said François Jackow, Executive Vice-President and a member of the Executive Committee supervising Europe Industries activities.
“The Group will contribute its unique expertise along the entire hydrogen supply chain developed over the last 50 years and its mastery of CO2 capture technologies. The time to act is now, and Air Liquide is pleased to support ArcelorMittal in this project aiming to decarbonise a major industrial basin.”
Geert van Poelvoorde, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe, added, “This project represents a major technological breakthrough and confirms ArcelorMittal’s willingness to profoundly and sustainably transform our production technologies, in line with our objectives to reduce our CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
“We count on the strong support of the French and European authorities in order to decarbonise the steel industry and are hopeful that this project will receive the support it needs to deliver large-scale CO2 emissions savings. The partnership with Air Liquide will enable us to further accelerate the decarbonisation of our steel production and contribute to the creation of a low carbon industrial and port basin.
