On December 5, Salzgitter AG broke ground for the main switch house of the direct reduction plant (DRI plant). This marks the start of the first of three expansion stages of the Salcos project. In addition to the construction of the DRI plant, it includes an electric arc furnace and a 100 MW electrolyzer.
The first part of the three-stage expansion is the main switchgear house for the direct reduction plant (DRI plant). It is scheduled for completion in 2024 after a planning phase of just under a year. An electric arc furnace and a 100 MW electrolyzer are also planned in the first expansion stage. These are being funded by the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony with a total of around €1 billion. According to Salzgitter, the company has invested an additional €1.3 billion in the first part of the Salcos project.
The construction site that has now been opened takes up almost a quarter of the total area of the smelter site. The steel group is now implementing the first stage of its Salzgitter Low CO₂ Steelmaking (Salcos) program on the 1.5 km² site.
Salcos: Stage 1 to reduce emissions by a third
According to the company, steel production in Salzgitter accounts for around 8% million tons of CO₂ emissions in Germany every year. Following the first expansion stage that has now begun, these could already be reduced by a third. In future, the Lower Saxony-based steel group wants to produce around 1.9 million tons of low-CO₂ crude steel per year. This could save up to 95% of total emissions by 2033.
Transforming an integrated steelworks during ongoing operations is technically complex and requires a specific organization. A 35-strong team from the consulting firm Drees & Sommer is supporting the steel producer in this process.
