Innovative hybrid concept

Unlike the LD blast furnace route (“Linz-Donawitz process”), which uses coal and coke as reducing agents, the electric arc furnace can be operated without fossil fuels. The EAF uses scrap, liquid pig iron, and HBI (hot briquetted iron), with the mix adjusted according to the specific quality requirements. HBI is manufactured in a so-called direct reduction process, in which natural gas rather than coal and coke is used to reduce iron ore to iron, resulting in fewer CO₂ emissions.

Our continually evolving raw material concept will also allow us to manufacture green high-tech steels, such as those already used in the automotive and rail industries, now and in the future.

The hybrid technology would allow the CO₂ emitted during steel production at Linz and Donawitz to be significantly reduced, by around 30%. This represents an annual saving of 3 to 4 million tons of CO₂.

The hybrid concept is the basis for achieving the hydrogen-based transformation by 2050.

For the path to a green future, we have developed an ambitious and feasible step-by-step plan with greentec steel. The traditional groundbreaking ceremony on September 13, 2023 will mark the start of construction work at the Donawitz site and thus the first step towards a green future. This major investment will also have considerable economic effects for the region.

Construction of the electric arc furnace (EAF) will start in 2024, and just three years later the EAF in Donawitz will go into operation and produce around 850,000 tons of CO₂-reduced steel per year in full operation. In contrast to the previous LD process (Linz-Donawitz process), which uses coal and coke as reducing agents, the EAF can be operated without fossil fuels. Depending on quality requirements, a mix of scrap, liquid pig iron and HBI ("Hot Briquetted Iron") is used.