The European Commission announced on 22 June that it has approved €280 million ($308 million) under EU State aid rules to support ArcelorMittal Belgium's partial decarbonisation of its steel production in Ghent, where it operates two blast furnaces producing liquid hot metal from a mixture of iron ore, coke and limestone.
Natural gas, initially used in the energy mix, will be phased out, with the plant eventually to be operated using renewable hydrogen.
The plant is expected to begin production in 2026, producing 2.3 million mt/year of low-carbon direct reduced iron.
Belgium selected ArcelorMittal's project as part of an open call to form part of an IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) on hydrogen technologies and systems in 2021.
ArcelorMittal's project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy-intensive steel sector. When completed, the project is expected to prevent the emission of over 50 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
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