British steel producer Liberty Steel will build an electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Whyalla plant in South Australia to phase out coal-based steel production while increasing capacity.
Liberty signed a supply contract new low-carbon EAF with Italian equipment manufacturer Danieli, which will increase the capacity of the Whyalla steel plant from 1 to more than 1.5 million tons of liquid steel per year. Engineering work has already begun and construction is expected to be completed in 2025, Liberty Steel said. The new EAF will replace the plant's existing coke ovens and blast furnace.
First, domestic scrap steel and other ferrous materials will be fed into the furnace to achieve an expected 90% reduction in direct CO2 emissions compared to traditional blast furnace production.
Danieli's patented Q-One technology provides direct power from clean energy sources, aligning the plant with future renewable energy development plans in the Spencer Gulf region on Australia's south coast.
Steel mill announced that it will apply for a A$50m ($33.6m) government grant to partially fund the electric arc furnace installation, which will reportedly require an investment of between A$400m and A$500m.
The company has also engaged global equipment suppliers to install a 1.8 million ton direct reduction plant at Whyalle that can process local magnetite ore to produce low-carbon iron. The plant will initially use a mixture of natural gas and green hydrogen as the reductant, and will then switch to full green hydrogen once it becomes available at scale. Low-carbon iron can be fed into the EAF along with scrap to produce high-quality steel grades.UK-based GFG Alliance, the parent company of Liberty Steel, also plans to produce up to 7.5 million tons per year of iron pellets at the Whyalle plant.
The new EAF at the Whyalle plant follows Liberty's commitment to sustainable steel production after the British company acquired the Whyalle plant, 230km north of Adelaide, in 2017. Initially, construction of the new furnace was scheduled to begin in 2021.
Last year, Liberty Steel also ordered two electric arc furnaces for its plant in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
