Feralpi Steel, the steel company based in Riesa, Germany, recently celebrated the first phase of its scrap recycling activities coming online in front of around 100 guests. Attendees included Michael Kretschmer, the minister president of Saxony, and Giuseppe Pasini, the president of the Italian Feralpi Group. Scrap recycling is an important part of the process of efficiently producing rebar products for the construction industry from scrap. It involves shredding the scrap, cleaning it and preparing it into lumps so that the raw material can be melted even more efficiently into steel in the electric arc furnace. Other materials are also recycled in this process.
In addition, the relevant machinery is housed inside an enclosure to improve noise and emissions levels for local residents.
Feralpi Group invests more than 220 million euros
Close to 20 million euros were invested in phase one of the scrap recycling activities at the Riesa plant over the course of two years. This represents an important step in the move towards green steel, as effective preparation and cleaning of the scrap material also improves the steel production process. The key factors in this are resource efficiency, material efficiency, energy efficiency and reduction of waste products. Far from being the end of the project, the official opening ceremony on 15 September was but an important first step and an influencing factor in the push for green steel. The ambitious goal once phases two and three are completed is to deliver a fully automated process for charging the electric arc furnace at the Feralpi Group’s Riesa facility.
Giuseppe Pasini emphasises the urgency of the projects: “As a society, we find ourselves at a turning point. If we do not succeed in further reducing our CO₂ emissions, we will neither be able to stop nor slow down climate change. Due to the high share of total emissions accounted for by the steel industry, the transformation of our industry has a huge role to play. We are aware of this responsibility, which is why we are investing more than 220 million euros at our Riesa facility in the coming years. These are the most extensive building works since the current steel plant was built in 1992. A large part of this will flow directly or indirectly into decarbonisation efforts, such as the construction of a new zero-emissions rolling mill, which is due to be completed in 2024.”
Wish list for policy-makers: More support and greater use of renewables
The steel industry is currently responsible for 30 percent of all CO₂ emissions in Germany’s industrial sector. To meet the reduction targets, the industry will need to cut down 26 million metric tons of CO₂ by 2030. Feralpi Steel in Riesa is a secondary steel mill – the steel is produced in a loop from almost 100 percent scrap. This important raw material is melted down in the electric arc furnace. The CO₂ emissions from secondary steel-making are only around a quarter of those from primary steel-making using blast furnaces, at around 500 kilograms per tonne of steel produced. This means that electric steel-making is already much lower in emissions – but nevertheless, decarbonising further and transforming towards fully green steel-making remain important priorities for the entire Feralpi Group.
But the company cannot take on the Herculean task of decarbonisation on its own. The steel producer also sees the government as having a duty to act.
“As things stand in Germany, the subsidies at federal and state level flow almost exclusively to primary steel mills, while electric steel mills go virtually empty-handed,” explains Uwe Reinecke, director of Feralpi Steel at the Riesa facility. “Plus, when it comes to producing green steel, it is not only a matter of reusing existing resources as part of a functioning circular economy – as is the case with our scrap recycling. We need dispatchable green electricity and a supply of green hydrogen if we want to continue to sustainably reduce our natural gas consumption. There is still quite a way to go, but we still see our future in Germany – right here in Riesa.”
Minister President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer commented: “Germany and Europe need a strong and competitive steel industry. As a member of the German Alliance of Steel States, Saxony is committed to this proposition. Feralpi Steel has been successfully focusing on environmentally friendly steel production for many years, and they are pioneers in the use of green hydrogen. The start of scrap recycling activities is another important investment in the future of the Riesa facility and an excellent example of an efficient circular economy with lower CO₂ emissions. Innovation and environmental transformation are the cornerstone of a successful future for the steel industry. As we chart this course, energy-intensive companies like Feralpi Steel need support that takes an open approach to technology use, and they also require reliable conditions at large – in particular in the form of competitive energy prices.”
