Posted on 26 Sep 2023
Liberty Steel’s Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia has officially shut down its coke ovens as part of its transition towards greener steelmaking, the group company, GFG Alliance, tells Kallanish. The plant’s new greener steelmaking technologies have yet to be installed however, and the company will import coke until they are ready.
Earlier this year, the Whyalla Steelworks announced a plan to produce green steel at the site by 2030. This would utilise 15 million tonnes/year of magnetite iron ore from GFG subsidiary Simec Mining, and a 10m t/y hydrogen-DRI plant. The material would feed an EAF meltshop, and the whole site would be powered by company-owned or invested renewable electricity.
The company has ordered a 160t EAF from Danieli to increase steelmaking capacity at the plant to over 1.5m t/y. The steelworks currently produces up to 1m t/y of crude steel through a blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace. The furnace is due to be commissioned in 2025.
A 1.8m t/y DRI plant is also planned, initially using natural gas or a natural gas-hydrogen mix. The goal is to eventually produce green hydrogen to feed the DRI plant.
Because the EAF and DRI plant are not operational, the company will have to import merchant coke from the seaborne market.
The shutdown ceremony was attended by GFG Alliance executive chairman Sanjiv Gupta, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas.
Source:Kallanish
