Germany pledges EUR 2.6bn of funding for green steel in Saarland

Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck has announced EUR 2.6 billion (USD 2.8bn) in funding to support the decarbonisation of the Saarland steel industry.

The planned funding is subject to approval by EU competition authorities.

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The announcement was made on Monday during a visit to SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar, the holding company for the steel industry in Saarland.

“This is momentous news for Saarland’s steel industry. This enables us to make a historic transition in production – one that will cut carbon emissions by 55% by 2030,” Stefan Rauber, chairman of the management board of SHS, said in a statement.

Under the Pure Steel+ transformation project, SHS and its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl, target climate neutrality by 2045 by focusing on hydrogen use, electric steel production and recycling steel scrap. The plans involve producing up to 3.5 million tones of green steel annually from 2027/2028.

The newly announced public funding is key to securing the required decarbonisation investments of around EUR 3.5 billion and ultimately producing up to 4.9 million tonnes of carbon-reduced steel annually in Saarland.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.080)