‘Green Steel for Europe’ project: a pillar of the transition towards European steel industry carbon neutrality

Brussels, 12 December 2019 - Since its incorporation as a legal entity in 2018, the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), together with its increasing membership, has been engaged in European public funded projects as both beneficiary and partner.

The European Parliament’s ‘Green Steel for Europe’ Pilot Project is one such example. This supports the EU in achieving the 2030 climate and energy targets and the 2050 long-term strategy for a climate neutral Europe by proposing effective solutions for low- or carbon-neutral steelmaking. 

The ‘Green Steel for Europe’ project consortium ensures broad coverage of EU Member States and steelmaking installations. There are ten project partners (including a think tank and research and technology organisations): VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH (BFI), Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Centre de Recherches Métallurgiques (CRM), the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), the European Steel Association (EUROFER), Fundación Idonial, Instytut Metalurgii Zelaza im Stanislawa Staszica (IMZ), K1-MET GmbH, Rina Consulting Centro Sviluppo Materiali SPA (CSM), Swerim. The project is set to start in January and will last for a period of 18 months.

“We are looking forward to kick-off meetings with the consortium and with the stakeholders, which will enable us to raise awareness of the project and to engage relevant stakeholders, beyond the steel industry”, said Klaus Peters, Secretary General of ESTEP.

The project will develop a technology roadmap and define both mid- and long-term pathways for the decarbonisation of the steel industry. It will also analyse funding options, assess the economic, social, environmental and industrial leadership impact of EU policy measures and ensure the dissemination of results and stakeholder engagement. The innovative contribution of the project lies in the combined assessment of promising technologies, industrial transformation scenarios, policy options and impact.

“The ‘Green Steel for Europe’ project fits perfectly into the scope of the proposal for the ‘Clean Steel Partnership’ under Horizon Europe. Indeed, in the context of the EU seeking to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 in Europe, the steel industry is already working on breakthrough technologies for low- and carbon- neutral steel solutions. The expectations towards a ‘Clean Steel Partnership’ are high, especially as the valley of death needs to be overcome. This partnership will provide opportunities of synergies to accelerate the starting phase of the transition towards carbon neutrality of the European steel industry. As such we also welcome the European Green Deal introduced today by the European Commission”, concluded Mr Peters.

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