GERMANY - The first quantities of thyssenkrupp's steel with 50% lower CO₂ emissions will be supplied to SGB-SMIT in Regensburg for the production of transformers for new digital E.ON medium-voltage substations.

SGB-SMIT from Regensburg is the first customer to receive steel with a 50% lower CO₂ intensity, manufactured in thyssenkrupp's Gelsenkirchen facility. The new material will be used in power and distribution transformers for green-energy digital substations constructed by the energy company E.ON.

thyssenkrupp Steel has been offering certified CO₂-reduced steel since October 2021. Production will initially take place via the classic blast furnace route at the Duisburg site before the technological leap to hydrogen-based direct reduction technology from 2025.

For the batch now delivered to SGB-SMIT, reduced iron has already been used in the blast furnace, enabling a reduction in coal usage. This results in actual CO₂ savings in the primary steel route, which are converted on balance to a specific quantity of certified CO₂-reduced steel while maintaining the same quality and full range of grades, SGB-SMIT said in a press release.

Including all further processing steps in Duisburg and in Gelsenkirchen, a CO₂ saving of 50% per ton of steel is achieved compared with conventional electrical steel. This means a reduction in the CO₂ intensity of one ton of steel from 3.7 tons to 1.8 tons, SGB-SMIT said in a press release.

"It is great added value for us and our customers that thyssenkrupp's top grades are now also available in CO₂-reduced form. This is an important step towards further decarbonization of the energy process chain," says Holger Ketterer, Managing Director of SGB-SMIT.

In addition to distribution and power transformers, grain-oriented electrical steel from thyssenkrupp is also used in charging columns for electric cars and electric motors.

Source: SGB-SMIT Group