EU approves grant for steel CO2 capture project in Germany

The European Commission has given the green light to a €30.2m state aid fund for a low-carbon project run by steelmaker ArcelorMittal in Germany. The project will capture CO₂ from installations and put the remaining flue gases back into the furnaces to generate heat and reduce coke use. 11/03-2010

Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. It is one of the main inputs to steel production.

The technology used in this project is one of four developed under an EU-funded initiative called Ultra–Low Carbon dioxide(CO₂) Steelmaking (ULCOS) to cut the steel sector's CO₂ emissions by 30-70% by 2050. The technology could cut CO₂ by 16% compared with existing state-of-the art technology.

According to the European Commission, such subsidies are needed because the CO₂ price, currently at an excessively low €13 per tonne, will not trigger investment in green technologies.

“The project does not involve the transport and storage of CO₂ but the CO₂ capture is the only technically challenging element of CCS. Once it is captured, it is merely a question of economic value of storing CO₂ compared to reusing CO₂ that will determine whether or not CCS is implemented,” explains Eivind Hoff from Bellona Europa.

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