Green electrical steel from thyssenkrupp
Germany, Gelsenkirchen: thyssenkrupp presented the CO2-reduced sustainable base material for energy transition.
Image source: thyssenkrupp
Germany, Gelsenkirchen: thyssenkrupp presented the CO2-reduced sustainable base material for energy transition. The first delivery of 50 tons of bluemint® powercore® electrical steel with 50 % lower CO2 intensity goes to transformer specialist SGB-SMIT for E.ON’s new digital medium-voltage stations in Germany.
Electrical steel specialist thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel produces high-quality grain-oriented electrical steel, which is essential for the manufacturing of low-loss power transformers for the transmission of electrical energy. Now, for the first time, this base material, which is required for successful management of energy transition, has been delivered to a customer with a significantly reduced CO2 intensity. SGB-SMIT will receive the first quantities of bluemint® powercore® in order to manufacture transformers for E.ON’s new digital medium-voltage stations.
thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel back on the road to success
thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel is the European leader in grain-oriented electrical steel market. Their new product ensures that transformers operate at a high degree of efficiency to transport energy with as little loss as possible. The lower the loss of electrical steel, the higher the efficiency. Grain-oriented powercore® electrical steel from thyssenkrupp is used in distribution and power transformers, as well as in charging stations for electric cars and innovative electric motors. After a tight turnaround and performance program, the Gelsenkirchen-based company is back on the road to success. Managing Director Georgios Giovanakis says: “We have made targeted investments, and also brought additional engineering know-how into the workforce. The aim was and is to produce the technologically sophisticated top grades that are in demand on the market, and are characterised by particularly low specific losses, and thus achieve high efficiencies that meet the demanding efficiency requirements of the EU Ecodesign Directive. In doing so, they contribute to reducing global energy requirements and the associated CO2 emissions. “Thanks to the technological turnaround in our three plants in Germany, France and India, we are able to deliver improved products to our customers. In this way, we indirectly contribute to energy savings of more than 1,000 GWh and thus to the reduction of over 400,000 tons of CO2 emission,” adds Giovanakis. thyssenkrupp has set itself a clear goal to significantly increase the production of top grades with high efficiency. If low CO2 generation of electricity from renewable sources dominates in the future, the proportion of CO2 emissions generated during the production phase of a transformer will become even more important. Therefore, the next logical step follows, in which the electrical steel itself is offered with reduced CO2 intensity.
SGB-SMIT receives the first quantities of bluemint® steel
For the first time, thyssenkrupp’s electrical steel is now available with reduced CO2. The first customer to receive bluemint® powercore® with a 50% lower CO2 intensity is SGB-SMIT, the pure-play transformer specialist from Regensburg, Germany.
“Energy suppliers and industrial companies all over the world trust our products. The fact that thyssenkrupp’s top grades are now also available with reduced CO2 is of great added value to us and to our customers. This is an important step towards further decarbonization of the energy process chain,” says Holger Ketterer, Managing Director of SGB-SMIT. The medium-sized company with a global customer base ordered bluemint® powercore® from thyssenkrupp. “It is also clear that the more green energy is generated and transported, the greater the importance of a climate-friendly supply chain and the use of climate-friendly materials,” adds Ketterer.
Since October 2021, thyssenkrupp Steel has been offering certified CO2-reduced steel under the bluemint® brand umbrella.
For the delivery to SGB-SMIT, HBI iron was used in the blast furnace, which enables a reduction in the use of coal. As a result, actual CO2 savings are achieved in the primary steel route, which are converted into a specific quantity of certified bluemint® steel – with the same high quality and full range of grades. Including all further processing steps, a CO2 saving of 50% per ton of bluemint® powercore® is achieved compared to conventional electrical steel. This means a reduction in the CO2 intensity of one ton of bluemint® powercore® from 3.7 tons to 1.8 tons.
The plant is aiming for complete climate neutrality in the medium term, for example by using green electricity and biomethane in production this year.
Transformers with CO2-reduced steel for E.ON’s new stations
Energy company E.ON also sees great potential in the more climate-friendly version of the well-known and proven products. “We are committed to a sustainable energy world of tomorrow – it makes a big difference in the overall assessment of a system if transformers with CO2-reduced electrical steel are also used in a substation or a station for green electricity,” says Achim Hübner, International Category Lead for Transformers at E.ON.
“Climate protection and energy transition are the key issues of the coming decades,” says Giovanakis. “With its products, thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel helps achieve climate targets. This spurs us on even more to further improve our products for the energy transition.”
Source: thyssenkrupp