China to support a series of low-carbon demonstration projects

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has identified the first list of low-carbon demonstration projects with advanced technology. Six of them are related to iron ore mining or steel production, Kallanish writes.

Angang Mining Resources Utilization, a subsidiary of Anshan Iron & Steel, plans to process 24 million tons/year of iron ore tailings into 2.2 million tons/year of 65% iron ore concentrate. This is equivalent to the construction of a mining complex with an annual capacity of 8.5 million tons per year. The calculation is based on the fact that 8.5 million tons of ore per year is equivalent to the declared concentrate production volumes, due to the low average iron content in Chinese ores.

Xinjiang Bayi Steel, HBIS, Tianjin Pipe, and Yongfeng Lingang Company have each selected one iron/steel project. Baotou Steel has a project to recycle slag using carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

In total, the list contains 47 initiatives. The NDRC has stated that it will use funds from the central budget, local authorities, financial institutions, and social capital to support them. Local development and reform commissions will monitor whether the expected results are achieved. If the planned progress is not achieved and the corrections do not meet the requirements, the projects will be removed from the list.

In early April 2024, China offered to fund projects worth up to 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) to accelerate progress in new emissions reduction technologies targeting various sectors. It is expected to support the transformation of energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries and areas such as electricity, steel industry, non-ferrous metals, building materials, chemicals and coke, mechanical engineering, data centers, and others.