Emissions-saving furnace fires up at Glenbrook Steel Mill
New Zealand Steel has commissioned a new electric arc furnace at its Glenbrook mill, a project subsidized by the government to reduce carbon emissions. The furnace will transition the plant from coal-fired kilns to recycled scrap steel production.
Why it matters
This transition represents a major step in industrial decarbonization, aiming to reduce New Zealand's total carbon emissions by one percent.
A new electric furnace that will save the country a million tonnes of emissions a year has been fired up at Glenbrook Steel Mill.
The electric arc furnace, operated by New Zealand Steel, has just produced its first commercial batch of steel, two years after the project was given the green light.
The furnace replaces two of the four coal-fired kilns at the mill just south of Auckland, and will produce steel from recycled scrap.
Chief executive Robin Davies said once the furnace was operating at full capacity, it would nearly halve the mill's carbon emissions.
"[That] is effectively one percent of New Zealand's total emissions, so it's a very high-impact project in a New Zealand context."
The furnace was one of the largest projects funded by the previous government's industrial decarbonisation fund, GIDI, receiving a $140 million subsidy.
Bluescope Steel, New Zealand Steel's Australian owners, invested the remaining $160m.
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