greentec steel: Home of the EAF is taking shape
With a length of 100 meters, a width of 60 meters, and a height of 65 meters, the new electric steel plant building is a true colossus. In the future, it will house the core unit, EAF 1 (electric arc furnace). Construction is already making impressive progress, so the 2026 schedule includes the completion of the building envelope, the installation of plant equipment, and the surrounding infrastructure. The fact that Secondary Metallurgy 5 (SecMet5) is being built on the EAF site at the same time makes the project and the organization of workflows even more demanding. The project team is tackling a mammoth task in light of the tight space, many parallel activities, and numerous trades.
Construction planning: Always in motion
Since June 2024, the team led by Hannes Unter, Richard Oberhamberger, and Franz Gerersdorfer has worked intensively on the assembly concept for the plant. This is because the space for the construction of the compactly designed electric steel plant is extremely limited. Additionally, the directly adjacent steel plant is in full operation. Consideration and mutual understanding are therefore crucial to implementing such a project together during ongoing operations. Furthermore, the timely delivery of the massive components must be planned precisely to ensure they can be installed at all in the confined space. For example, the furnace shell—eleven meters long and nine meters wide—is delivered by ship to the heavy-lift port and then transported across the plant to its destination.
From the power outlet to the furnace cradle
Following the bidding phase for the plant assembly and technical and commercial negotiations, the contracts were awarded to the partner companies at the end of 2025. Solid construction and steelwork activities are currently ongoing, while work on the facade is already progressing to close the building envelope. In parallel, mechanical assembly and the installation of conveyor technology for the raw material supply are already starting. The 30-meter-high, 5-meter-long, and 16-meter-wide waste heat boiler, which converts the 1,400 °C exhaust gas into steam, is being installed. Work on the power supply, process electrics, media technology, and hydraulics has also picked up speed. At the same time, the construction of the furnace cradle, the base frame of the EAF, is in full swing. The foundations for the dust extraction system have already been completed, and the assembly of the dust extraction system is well advanced. Overall, the work is progressing excellently—a unique achievement for a project of this scale.
Strong implementation: Many experts are working together
to make the construction of this steelmaking plant possible. Multiple trades are working together in a very tight space. Ensuring that every trade can perform its tasks at the right time is essential. Each area requires specific conditions to complete its activities on schedule. It is particularly important to always keep the big picture in mind during planning. What makes sense when, and which trade has priority at any given time. In the two largest trades alone—steelwork and solid construction—around 250 people are working on the construction site. The top priority in project execution is that everyone returns home healthy. Occupational safety, therefore, always clearly comes first.
greentec steel: On the way to the start
The main part of all assembly work will be implemented in the 2026 calendar year; only minor final assembly tasks are planned for spring 2027. The team faces several critical assembly steps that are absolutely vital to the project's success. Once the furnace cradle is finished, the shell fits perfectly on top of it, and the boiler is installed, the first sense of relief will be felt. However, the project team agrees that true relaxation will only set in once everything has been successfully installed and the plants are in operation as planned. Staggered tests of the individual units are scheduled starting in the fall. Through cold testing, the plant will be transitioned into regular operation in a structured manner, starting with signal checks and moving through functional tests. Everyone involved is aware that 2026 will be challenging. However, the project is well on schedule, the team remains focused, and they are confident that EAF 1 can go into operation in February 2027 and SecMet5 in April 2027, as planned.
To greentec steel
The greentec steel project of voestalpine is an ambitious step-by-step plan that makes a valuable contribution to the achievement of the climate goals. As a first step, the voestalpine Group plans to replace two blast furnaces with two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) by the year 2027. The investment volume amounts to roughly 1.5 billion euros.
Carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 30% as early as 2029 by making this switch from the blast furnace to the EAF. This corresponds to a savings of nearly 4 million tons of CO2 per year, amounting to nearly 5% of the carbon emissions in Austria. This makes greentec steel the largest climate protection program in Austria.
The two electric-arc furnaces will enable voestalpine to produce roughly 2.5 million tons of carbon-reduced steel by the year 2027, roughly 1.6 million tons in Linz and 850,000 tons in Donawitz. Learn more about greentec steel here.