Liberty Steel to make EAF switch in Australia

United Kingdom-based metals producer GFG Alliance has announced it will phase out blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) production at its Whyalla, Australia, steelmaking complex, replacing it by 2025 with electric arc furnace (EAF) technology.

The integrated Whyalla campus, which is part of GFG’s Liberty Steel business unit, most recently had annual capacity of 1 million to 1.2 million metric tons using its blast furnace/BOF technology. Steel production on the site dates back to 1965.

GFG has agreed with Italy-based Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. on the supply of a modern 160-ton electric arc furnace in a move it says “secures the future of Whyalla.”

Liberty Steel and GFG say the action means “the phase-out of coal-based steelmaking” at the plant. GFG also says the new furnace will lift steelmaking capacity at Whyalla from its current level to more than 1.5 million metric tons annually.

The steelmaker says the Whyalla EAF “will initially be fed by domestic steel scrap and other iron-bearing materials to deliver an expected 90 percent reduction in direct CO₂ emissions compared with traditional blast furnace production.”

The EAF installation and associated infrastructure will be funded in part by an application to be made to the government-affiliated Whyalla Steel Taskforce for a $50 million grant that previously was committed and funded by the government of the state of South Australia in 2016 to be used toward this investment.

Regarding timing, “Engineering work is already advanced, and construction is expected to be completed in 2025, replacing the existing coke ovens and blast furnace,” GFG states.

Liberty says it also has engaged with suppliers regarding the installation of a 1.8 million-ton-per-year direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Whyalla. The steelmaker is seeking a configuration that can process regional magnetite ore to produce DRI.

The DRI plant, as conceived, initially will use “a mix of natural gas and green hydrogen as the reducing agent, before fully transitioning to green hydrogen as it becomes available at scale,” Liberty says.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era placing Whyalla at the heart of a global revolution in the steel industry, moving it from being the most polluting of all industries to among the cleanest and greenest,” says Sanjeev Gupta, executive chair of the GFG Alliance. “Through the steps we’re taking to install state-of-the-art low-carbon iron and steelmaking technologies here in Whyalla, we will not only support Australia’s climate ambitions, but we will [also] help to decarbonize steel supply chains globally.

“Whyalla is very proud of the role blast furnace production has played in the history and development of this incredible town and in supporting Australian infrastructure development, but its phasing out allows us to usher in a new era for sustainable iron and steel production that will take employment and prosperity here to new heights.”

Peter Malinauskas, the premier of the state of South Australia, says, “We’re very excited to see progress on the plan to decarbonize the Whyalla steelworks. We look forward to working with key industrial players, including Liberty, to take full advantage of the opportunity to reindustrialize the [region].”