Construction of the Baekeland substation for ArcelorMittal has begun in Belgium

On December 15, 2025, construction officially began on the new Baekeland high-voltage substation in Ghent, Belgium, one of whose key consumers will be the assets of the ArcelorMittal metallurgical company in the country. This is stated in the company’s press release.

The Baekeland substation will become one of the key nodes of the Belgian power system. It will receive electricity via cable and overhead lines, and transformers will convert it to different voltage levels for large industrial consumers. The project will provide the North Sea Port area and adjacent industrial clusters with significantly better access to electricity and support the regional energy transition.

ArcelorMittal Belgium will be the first in the country to receive a direct connection to the 380 kV grid in 2030. In November, the company signed an agreement with transmission system operator Elia, as the current 150 kV connection is insufficient for future electric arc furnaces. The new connection guarantees the necessary capacity and is an important element of the steel production decarbonization strategy.

The substation will be built in phases on a 15-hectare site along the R4 East route. The project involves the construction of several 380 kV and 150 kV hybrid substations, the installation of phase-shifting transformers, and related infrastructure. The facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 2030.

“This project is a decisive step towards electric steel production. Once all the prerequisites are in place, we will be ready to produce low-carbon steel on an industrial scale,” said ArcelorMittal Belgium CEO Frederik Van de Velde.

Earlier, the CEO of ArcelorMittal Belgium said that the division was not yet ready to implement the largest climate investment project in the country’s history, announced in 2021. The company has revised its plans to invest €2 billion in decarbonizing its plant in Ghent due to low profitability.