Liberty to make EAF investment in Czech Republic

Liberty Steel Group, a business unit of the United Kingdom-based GFG Alliance, has announced it is making a 350 million euros ($351 million) investment in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking equipment at its Ostrava steelworks in the Czech Republic.

GFG acquired the Ostrava integrated (blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace) steelmaking complex was from ArcelorMittal in 2019.

A new contract signed between Liberty and Italy-based Danieli & C. S.p.A. will entail the delivery of two hybrid electric arc furnaces as part of what Liberty calls a “Greensteel transformation plan” for Ostrava.

The new furnaces will have a combined capacity of 3.5 million metric tons per year and will have the ability to accept what Liberty calls a flexible charge mix ranging from large quantities of hot metal and direct reduced iron/hot briquetted iron (DRI/HBI). When sufficient electric power is available, the furnaces will be able to melt up to 100 percent ferrous scrap.

The upgrades will result in the complex reducing its CO₂ emissions of by more than 80 percent by 2027, Liberty says.

The two 200-metric ton furnaces will not require the volumes of coal and iron ore traditionally used in Ostrava and will “provide even greater production flexibility,” the steel producer says. The new furnaces are expected to be operational in 2025 and will be able to melt 100 percent scrap in 2027 following the planned installation of a 400-kilovolt electricity line into the Ostrava steelworks.

Yet more EAF capacity conversion is possible in Europe, Liberty says. The company has launched a tender process for similar hybrid EAFs for Ostrava’s sister Galati plant in Romania.

For the Ostrava conversion, Liberty has signed a declaration of cooperation with utility CEZ ESCO, which Liberty describes as one of Europe’s largest energy companies. 

“The contract we have signed today is a historic milestone for the Ostrava steelworks and a massive step forward towards our Greensteel and carbon neutrality plans here in Ostrava and across Europe,” says Sanjeev Gupta, executive chair of Liberty Steel Group regarding the Danieli contract.

Gupta continues, “This is the largest investment in Ostrava for a generation and the start of a major transformation across Europe as we move away from older polluting production methods to the latest lower carbon production technologies. Our investment shows our long-term commitment to the workforce here at Ostrava, the local community and the future generations that will come to work in what will be a modern, clean steel plant.”

Giacomo Mareschi Danieli, CEO of Danieli, says, “Danieli is delighted to have been selected by Liberty Ostrava as the technology provider for this prestigious project that represents a milestone in European steelmaking history, being the first major project in Europe that will replace carbon-based blast furnace technology with the latest electric arc furnace green steel technology.”

Kamil Cermák, board chair and CEO of CEZ ESCO, adds, ”The steel industry in Europe stands at an important crossroads. We appreciate Liberty Ostrava’s decision to switch to low-emission steel production technology based on electric arc furnaces.”