ArcelorMittal Tubarão took another important step towards achieving the carbon neutral goal, defined by the global Group for all its operations by 2050. The company from Espírito Santo closed a contract for the use of natural gas in its Blast Furnace 3. The partnership was signed with ES Gás, which will supply 250 thousand cubic meters per day, as of the 12th of September.

“This third Blast Furnace of the plant, inaugurated in 2007, is already adapted to receive this type of fuel. Our expectation now is to adapt the two other pieces of equipment to, as soon as possible, also make the energy transition”, said Jorge Oliveira, CEO of ArcelorMittal Aço Planos América do Sul. Together, the three blast furnaces represent the largest steel industry in the country, responsible for the production of 7.5 million tons of steel slabs per year.

For ES Gás Operations Director, Antonio Fernando Cesar Filho, “the contract is extremely important, as it demonstrates that the Company is able to meet the demands of industrial customers with agility and quality, as it did with ArcelorMittal Tubarão, with the offer a volume of 250,000 m³/day in the next three months, with a potential of 1,500,000 m³/day, in the event of the conversion to natural gas of two other blast furnaces of the industrial plant”.

The CEO of ES Gás, Heber Resende, reinforces the relevance of this service: “ES Gás is attentive to the needs of customers in relation to this energy source, aware of how important this offer is in attracting new investments to the State or expanding of the existing ones. We are able to supply the projects with natural gas, helping Espírito Santo to become a preferred destination for investors, while generating employment and income,” he says.

“We are pleased to contribute to a good business environment in the State, promoting the competitiveness of Espírito Santo through natural gas, in line with the related legislation. We understand that, in this way, the Agency fulfills its role both in guaranteeing the requirements of regularity, efficiency and safety, as well as in serving the public interest and encouraging competition. The approval of the contract by the Espírito Santo Public Services Regulatory Agency (Arsp) makes it possible to carry out tests aimed at reducing the use of coal, whose project is aligned with the state decarbonization plan, in addition to promoting the gas market in ES , bringing benefits to the population of Espírito Santo” says Joana Magella, director-president of Arsp.

The ArcelorMittal Group was a pioneer in the sector by launching the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 and, as an intermediate step, reducing its specific emissions by 25% by 2030. , the increase in the use of scrap as raw material and the optimization of the use of charcoal in the units, in addition to improving the energy efficiency of the processes.