Steel Dialogue 2023 #02

Sustainability has a very high priority at voestalpine. voestalpine AG is a member of the Science Based Targets initiative and is the only steel company listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe and the FTSE4Good Index. The voestalpine Steel Division is ResponsibleSteel-certified at the Linz site, and the EcoVadis sustainability platform ranks voestalpine among the top 1%: Platinum Ranking.

The voestalpine Steel Division has invested 1.8 billion euros in environmental protection measures over the past ten years and has minimized air emissions and energy consumption as far as technically possible. But complete decarbonization cannot be achieved with conventional technologies. Sustainable progress is being made with an ambitious step-by-step plan and new steelmaking technologies.

• Current status: Reduction of CO2 emissions by 10%. Measures include optimized processes and intensive recycling management with maximized scrap recycling and the use of process gas from the blast furnace to generate our own electricity.
• By 2030: Hybrid technology with 30% CO₂ reduction by means of a gradual transition from the coal-based blast-furnace route to an electric-arc-furnace route powered by green electricity.
• By 2050: Carbon-neutral, hydrogen-based steelmaking. 

Green hydrogen is becoming an essential raw material for the steel production of tomorrow. With its H2FUTURE project, voestalpine is leading the way. The pilot plant for green hydrogen production has been running in Linz since 2019 and is the largest and most modern in the steelmaking industry. We are one step ahead with our high-quality hot briquetted iron (HBI) in steelmaking. voestalpine holds a patent for production using green hydrogen and biogas and is the only European steelmaker to produce its own HBI with a partner.

The greentec steel Edition of voestalpine supplies customers with products with a reduced _{carbon footprint}. Process optimization in the blast furnace route has the potential to save up to 10% of our direct _{carbon emissions} at the Linz site. The material and processing properties of steel are not affected in any way in this production route. The reduced _{carbon footprint} is verified with a declaration by LRQA, an independent agency. The declaration demonstrates to our customers that we have reduced our emissions (Scope 3). 

Please find more information at https://www.voestalpine.com/stella/.

FIGO Amade, the steel roof panel launched in 2017, sets standards in weather resistance and aesthetics. The team at FIGO, a Filli Stahl brand, has worked with voestalpine on the development. A metallic finish gives the high-quality voestalpine steel strip a high-performance protective layer. It guarantees corrosion protection and durability. The voestalpine colofer^® corrender coating meets the highest UV resistance and scratch resistance requirements.

Ecological building materials and sustainability are becoming increasingly important and will certainly be required by building codes in the future. Since January 2023, FIGO has been supplying its products made exclusively of greentec steel Edition steels. The brand recognizes its responsibility for the future and the environment. The greentec steel bonus is available as a sales promotion and provides important information for users. Building owners receive a refund of one euro for every square meter of roof or facade installed with the greentec steel Edition.

All products grades and dimensions are available in greentec steel Edition with unchanged material properties. Please contact your voestalpine account representative. In case you are purchasing voestalpine premium quality via another company let your supplier know you want greentec steel Edition. The ordering at voestalpine for them is easy to realize.

Yes, there is always an option for support. With customers who already ordered greentec steel Edition products we did: Newsletter Articles, LinkedIn-Posts, Support in preparation of marketing documents, Support for trade fair presentations. Please contact your voestalpine account representative for additional information.

voestalpine is pursuing an ambitious, comprehensive plan for climate-neutral steel production. This is aimed at carbon direct avoidance (CDA) by gradually converting coal-based blast furnaces to green electricity-powered electric steel routes starting in 2027 and at the long-term vision of climate-neutral steel production through the greatest possible use of renewable energies, especially green hydrogen, and the circular economy.

The final transformation steps in particular require prerequisites that are not yet fully in place. The key words here are infrastructure, supply, availability and cost-effectiveness of "green" energies and the corresponding input materials.

Due to the current lack of competitive availability of green hydrogen, a number of other options are therefore being examined, such as biogas, but also CCU and, for remaining residual emissions, CCS. These options also require at least a European infrastructure and correspondingly secured capacities.

The capture of CO2 and its conversion for other sectors in the form of CCU is currently being technologically explored with R&D projects, such as Underground Sun Conversion together with RAG, among others. CCS as an option for residual emissions needs to be considered on an EU-wide basis. This does not mean that storage has to take place in Austria, but appropriate infrastructure is needed, for example for utilization in coastal regions such as Norway. It is important that there is no distortion of competition due to different political frameworks in individual EU countries.

Under the following link you can find detailed information:  https://www.voestalpine.com/greentecsteel/en/breakthrough-technologies/

Our process-optimized operation in the production of greentec steel results in increased energy and raw material costs. Please contact your voestalpine account representative for detailed pricing information.

Our process-optimized operation in the production of greentec steel results in increased energy and raw material costs. Please contact your voestalpine account representative for detailed pricing information.

Sustainability begins with the product, and we install hot water heating or electric power generation systems on FIGO roofs to create additional sustainability. We offer a wide range of accessories to make these systems easy to install and to ensure that they can be retrofitted at any time.

The booth was designed from the beginning to showcase greentec steel Edition, so customers have very specific questions when they ask us about it. We always make special reference to greentec steel Edition and stress that our products are made in Austria, and customer feedback has been very positive.

Green electricity is purchased for products in the greentec steel Edition. The origin of the external electricity used is guaranteed based on certificates of origin issued by the supplier.

That’s a tough question, but it's safe to say that there will be about 1,000 of them in Austria this year.

By giving realistic timelines regarding our plans and making sure our CO2 optimized process and related data are validated and verified by an external and independent party, LRQA in the case of greentec steel Edition.

We are working intensively to optimize the raw material mix to guarantee all material properties within the required specifications of our customers with the hybrid- electric steel pathway planned from 2027 onwards.

With our process-optimized operation in the production of greentec steel we can offer up to 1 mio to/year of greentec steel Edition products. The guaranteed maximum carbon footprints are validated by the external and independent agency LRQA through declarations of GHG-emissions (greenhouse gas).