OSLO: Vow ASA has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, to work on a project to build a biogas production plant that will reduce CO2 emissions produced during the steelmaking process.

Vow subsidiary ETIA and ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, a leader in the production of sections, sheet piles, rails and quality wire rod, will work together to build the first dedicated biogas plant for the steel industry, using ETIA’s pyrolysis technology, at ArcelorMittal Rodange in Luxembourg.

ArcelorMittal Rodange specializes in the production of grooved rails, supplying major rail projects around the world.

Vow ASA and world leading manufacturing company join forces to build biogas plant

The two companies will cooperate on engineering, business models and financing, and aim to have the Rodange biogas plant operational in 2022.

The biogas will be made using Vow’s patented ‘Biogreen’ pyrolysis technology, which involves heating sustainable biomass at high temperatures. The gases emitted during this process are then captured and processed into biogas, which will directly replace the use of natural gas in the Rodange plant’s rolling mill reheating furnace.

By-products such as bio-coal will also be created during the process, and re-used within ArcelorMittal, directly replacing the use of coal.

The Rodange biogas plant will be ETIA’s first industrial-scale pilot project for this specific application, and the intention is for similar plants to be built in Europe, thereby increasing the CO2 emissions saved from replacing the use of natural gas.

“We are very pleased to be working with VOW ASA, combining our expertise as steelmakers with Vow and ETIA technology, to create this biogas plant for ArcelorMittal Rodange. We see significant potential in the use of biogas as a replacement for natural gas within ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ facilities, and in helping us to achieve our ambition of being carbon-neutral by 2050. This technically challenging project is truly ground-breaking, in its ability to create synthetic gas for industrial use, from sustainable biomass,”  said Vincent Cholet, CTO of ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products.

“We are very excited and committed to this cooperation, helping ArcelorMittal on their mission towards a CO2-neutral future in steel production. We see this as the beginning of a prosperous long-term collaboration”, said the CEO of Vow ASA Henrik Badin.

ArcelorMittal Europe has committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 and has an ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

The company is pioneering two breakthrough carbon-neutral technology routes as part of its strategy: Smart Carbon and innovative DRI. The Long Products business owns Europe’s only DRI-EAF facility in Hamburg, where a project is planned to test the ability of hydrogen to reduce iron ore and form DRI on an industrial scale, as well as testing carbon-free DRI in the EAF steelmaking process.

The announcement of the MoU with Vow ASA marks ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products’ second major project to reduce the segment’s CO2 emissions.

Vow first announced this MoU in a statement to the stock market on 18 December 2020 without naming the Client at that time.

ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking facilities in 18 countries. In 2019, ArcelorMittal had revenues of $70.6 billion and crude steel production of 89.8 million metric tonnes, while iron ore production reached 57.1 million metric tonnes. http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/

Vow ASA develops and delivers world leading technology and solutions that purify wastewater and convert waste into valuable resources and clean energy. www.vowasa.com