The steel giant ArcelorMittal wants to abandon natural gas at its Contrecœur steelworks in favor of green hydrogen. The company has taken steps to get Quebec to commit to making the electricity necessary for the development of the sector available, which it believes would facilitate the production of one of the “least polluting steels on the planet”.
The multinational registered in Luxembourg did not want to comment on the steps or detail its ambitions in hydrogen, contenting itself with saying that it should make announcements on this subject in the coming days.
However, the multinational has also registered in the register of lobbyists in recent days, noted The duty. It describes a series of steps aimed at accelerating the energy transition of its activities in Quebec. She writes that she wants to abandon “a significant quantity of natural gas” for green hydrogen at her steelworks in Contrecœur. The plant converts the billets — using high temperatures provided by natural gas — into other products.
Strategic positioning
To make this shift, the multinational, which employs nearly 170,000 people around the world, wants to obtain financial support from the Quebec government. This aid would make it possible to carry out the technical studies necessary to obtain a supply of hydrogen.
At the same time, the company is asking the Legault government to develop a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would take into account the environmental footprint of the manufacture of building materials.
When purchasing and tendering, the government should, according to ArcelorMittal, choose products “whose manufacture reduces its carbon footprint” and “penalizes[er] products whose manufacturing process increases the carbon footprint”, this “even if the cost is higher”.
“This could facilitate the sourcing of low-carbon steel or other carbon-neutral materials,” it says.
ArcelorMittal has already started a shift towards green hydrogen across the Atlantic. Its European division announced in 2020 a strategy that revolves around green hydrogen. This should enable it to reduce its CO emissions by 30%2 by 2030 and achieve its carbon neutrality target by 2050.
Since then, the announcements have multiplied. The company signed an agreement with Air Liquide in March 2021 to decarbonize the steelmaker’s operations in Dunkirk, France, focusing on both hydrogen and carbon capture. It was impossible to confirm or deny whether another agreement was envisaged with Air Liquide, owner of a hydrogen plant in Bécancour.
In September, ArcelorMittal also received German state funding of 55 million euros (C$75 million) for a demonstration steel plant in Hamburg that is expected to use green hydrogen produced from electricity from wind farms. This plant is currently powered by gray hydrogen produced from natural gas.
And in Canada? The Ontario government meanwhile injected $500 million in February into a project — estimated at $1.8 billion — to produce “sustainable steel” at the Hamilton plant. To do this, ArcelorMittal plans to replace the coal and coke that fuel its furnaces and blast furnaces with hydrogen. This will reduce annual GHG emissions by three million tonnes, or the equivalent of about one million cars on the road, estimates the Ontario government.
Quebec strategy
The Quebec government will unveil its green hydrogen and bioenergy strategy in the coming weeks. This must define “the main orientations in order to make Quebec a world leader in this area”.
In its Plan for a Green Economy 2030, published in November 2020, the government maintains that it wants to position itself as a “leader in the production” of green hydrogen and bioenergies: “The development of the green hydrogen sector will require large private sector investments. The government will have to reassure investors by creating a stable and predictable economic context. »