According to Reuters article published on February 23, 2023, Liberty Steel's plant in the eastern Romanian city of Galati will need five times the energy supply it uses at present when it becomes carbon neutral in 2030, a company executive said on Thursday.
The Galati plant plans to produce green steel, or steel made without using fossil fuels, by upcycling scrap material using electric arc furnaces powered by renewable energy, a more energy intensive process.
The plant will use some European Union funds to finance the transition, Liberty Steel Europe President Ajay Aggarwal said, adding that a steady energy price policy from Romanian officials was key.
"We will need four or five times the energy supply that we're using today."
Romania's government capped power prices for industrial consumers late last year, part of a wider energy support scheme that includes partial market regulation until March 2025 to ensure security of supply.
Liberty Steel will generate 250 megawatts of renewable power at the Galati plant and will tap other green energy projects under development in eastern Romania, Aggarwal added.
Liberty Steel, owned by commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, is part of Gupta's family conglomerate, GFG Alliance, which has been refinancing its cash-starved businesses in steel, aluminium and energy after supply chain finance firm Greensill filed for insolvency in March 2021.
