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Iron ore and steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs is looking to take steelmaking into the future.
An up to $575 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) award package would allow Cleveland-Cliffs to accelerate the company’s decarbonization technologies.
Under a DOE grant, Cliffs would replace an existing blast furnace at its Middletown Works in Ohio with a hydrogen-ready Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant and two electric melting furnaces.
If awarded, it would also allow Cliffs to replace two existing natural-gas fired slab reheat furnaces with four electrified induction slab reheat furnaces at its Butler Works in Pennsylvania.
The two projects would result in reduced carbon emissions, production cost savings and improved steel quality, according to Cleveland- Cliffs.
“The investment at Middletown Works is confirmation that Cleveland-Cliffs is the benchmark for iron and steelmaking in the world, ahead of Japan, Korea, Europe, and China,” Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs chairman, president and chief executive officer said in a news release. “Our experience using natural gas has seamlessly catalyzed our transition into using hydrogen. Middletown and Butler Works are both critically important to the success of Cleveland-Cliffs and the industrial might of the United States. Both plants support good-paying, middle-class union jobs.”
A 2.5 million-ton-peryear hydrogen-ready DRI plant would be built at Middletown to feed existing steelmaking facilities at the facility.
Standard blast-furnace grade pellets such as those produced at Cliffs’ northeastern Minnesota taconite mines could feed the DRI plant, according to Cleveland- Cliffs.
Middletown would be the most advanced, lowest greenhouse gas emitting iron and steel facility in the world, according to Cliffs.
It would production Middletown steel production costs by about $150 per ton of liquid steel, or about $450 million per year, according to Cliffs.
An up to $500 million DOE award would help fund the Middletown project.
Cliffs would invest $1.3 billion into the project, which would secure 2,500 International Association of Machinists jobs at the facility, according to Cleveland- Cliffs.
Construction would require 1,200 building trades jobs and an additional permanent 170 jobs would be created at the plant, according to Cliffs.
United Steelworkers International President David McCall praised DOE investments in critical industries.
“The USW is excited that the Biden administration is making these forward-thinking, transformative investments in our nation’s manufacturing future, and doing so in a way that puts workers, families and communities first,” McCall said in statement. “These investments will allow companies to make needed upgrades and reduce pollution while also helping our manufacturing base compete globally.”
An up to $75 million DOE grant would help Cliffs install four electrified induction slab reheat furnaces at its Butler Works, replacing two existing natural-gas slab reheat furnaces.
Construction would require 220 building trades jobs, secure 1,300 United Auto Workers jobs at the plant and save about $80 million a year, according to Cliffs.
Goncalves said Cliffs appreciates the Biden administration’s shared belief that union jobs are essential and said the two projects have a short payback period.
“The Department of Energy has facilitated a perfect situation for our union workforce, our decarbonization endeavors, our communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and our shareholders,” Goncalves said.
