(Glasgow, United Kingdom) One of the ten biggest polluters in Quebec, ArcelorMittal, is investing 205 million in its Port-Cartier plant to modify its production process for iron pellets and reduce its gas emissions from 2025 onwards. greenhouse effects in the province.
The CEO of the ArcelorMittal group, Aditya Mittal, announced this investment on Wednesday with Prime Minister François Legault at COP26, while this modernization project on the North Shore is accompanied by a discount on electricity valued at around $ 80 million.
By modifying its production process for iron pellets, ArcelorMittal plans to reduce its GHG emissions by 200,000 tonnes of CO equivalent from 2025.2 per year, “which is equivalent to removing more than 57,600 vehicles from the roads”. In 2020, the Port-Cartier plant produced 819,803 metric tonnes of CO equivalent2.
“Compared to the production of traditional pellets, the direct reduction pellets (NDRL: the name of the new process) produced in Port-Cartier will also allow a reduction in GHGs in steel mills in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Estimated at over 2.7 megatonnes of CO equivalent2 per year, this reduction corresponds to some 778,000 vehicles taken off the road, ”the government also indicated.
For François Legault, who makes the United Nations climate summit an economic mission, this announcement “sends a message to all large companies in Quebec that we are ready to participate with them to reduce greenhouse gases. [en fournissant] a price of electricity which is very competitive ”.
During the day on Wednesday, in Glasgow, the Prime Minister also spoke for about 30 minutes with Gina McCarthy, national climate advisor in the administration of US President Joe Biden, on the strategic minerals present in Quebec. Earlier in the day, Mr. Legault had also exchanged a few words with the US special envoy on the climate, John Kerry.