EC okays EUR 280m in Belgian state aid for ArcelorMittal decarbonisation

The European Commission on Thursday announced approval, under EU state aid rules, for EUR 280 million (USD 308m) in Belgian support to help ArcelorMittal Belgium partially decarbonise its steel production.

The state aid, including a direct grant and a soft loan, will back the construction of a direct reduction iron plant in Ghent, where ArcelorMittal operates two blast furnaces. Along with a new electric arc furnace, the project will replace one of the two existing blast furnaces. The plant will gradually stop using natural gas and will ultimately move to renewable hydrogen, which will be only complemented by low-carbon hydrogen in case of a lack of sufficient volumes of renewable hydrogen.

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Scheduled to start operations in 2026, the plant is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes of low-carbon direct reduced iron per year.

The EC said the Belgian measure will contribute to the EU Hydrogen Strategy, the European Green Deal and the Green Deal Industrial Plan targets, and is in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.098)