The French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the country will allocate $6.2 billion (€5.6 billion) to the decarbonization industry as part of the France 2030 plan, aiming to boost French industrial activity, while decarbonizing the economy. He made his announcement during a visit to the ArcelorMittal site in Dunkirk – the second-largest steel producer in the world.
$5.5 billion (€5 billion) will go for the deployment of new technologies on industrial sites, while the other $676 million (€610 million) will be used to support innovation and research for the low-carbon industry. According to Mr Castex, the $6.2 billion are in addition to the “€1 billion to support the deployment of mature technologies” such as renewable heat.
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During Mr Castex visit, the ArcelorMittal group presented its project that is backed by the State with an investment of nearly $1.8 billion (€1.7 billion) – the transformation of the steelworks in Fos-sur-mer and Dunkirk. The goal is to “transform the iron ore with hydrogen, without using coal” which would save up to 8 million tons of CO2 emissions per year by 2030 from these industrial sites.
According to ArcelorMittal, they will be coupled with “an innovative electric furnace technology, and completed by an additional electric furnace.” The Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompili also added on Twitter: “2% of France’s greenhouse gas emissions. That’s what the decarbonization of these ArcelorMittal steel production plants will avoid.”
As a leading steel producer, the company has communicated goals to decarbonize its plants in Europe. It wants to serve its industrial customers in the automotive, packaging, construction and transport sectors, as well as in solar energy, wind power, future hydrogen and CO2 capture networks. The project also saves France emissions and supports its decarbonization targets.
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