Steel Dynamics joins energy organization

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Indiana, recently joined the Green Power Partnership (GPP) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The recycled-content steelmaker, which also is building a large recycled-content aluminum production plant in Mississippi, was ranked No. 21 on an EPA list of Green Power Partners consisting of other Fortune 500 companies and ranked 33rd on the agency’s national Top 100 List of the largest green power users within the GPP.

In 2023, SDI’s electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills used 690 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of what qualifies as EPA green power, which was enough to meet 10 percent of its steel mill operations’ electricity use and achieve its 2025 renewable electrical energy goal two years early.

“We are proud to be recognized by the U.S. EPA for our use of green power,” says Jeff Hansen, SDI vice president of environmental sustainability. “By making the choice to use renewable power in our energy mix, we are reducing our emissions footprint, while also supporting the build-out of the renewable power market and development of those resources.”

“This list of the largest users of green power across the nation is proof that good business practices can also benefit the environment,” says James Critchfield, program director of EPA’s GPP. “EPA applauds the leading organizations in the GPP’s Top Partner Rankings for their notable commitment to expanding their use of green power and protecting the environment.”

Last year, SDI signed what it calls the largest renewable product purchase agreement for the steel industry in North America, equivalent to approximately 15 percent of the company’s steel mills’ electricity usage.

Its contracted supplier of wind energy began commercial operations in the first quarter of 2024 and represents "the single most significant step” in increasing the firm’s use of renewable energy, the company says.

The large volume of recycled metal used by EAF producers like SDI has helped them attain a smaller carbon emissions footprint compared with steel made via other methods.

With their metallic feedstock of choice scoring favorably, EAF producers in North America have sought to further shrink their carbon footprints by using wind, solar or other nonfossil fuel types of energy.

SDI's next target is to use 30 percent renewable energy by 2030, and the company says it already is a leader in producing lower-carbon, high-quality steel products, with “plans to continue to play a leadership role in decarbonization.”