Czech Třinecké železárne to invest $63.2 million in decarbonization in 2024

Czech steel plant Třinecké železárne (TŽ) plans to invest CZK 1.5 billion ($63.2 million) in decarbonization of its facilities in 2024. This is stated in a press release of the company.

The investment will contribute to maximizing process automation, reducing CO₂ emissions, energy savings and the first concrete steps towards sustainable steel production.

«An important milestone in the transformation of the main steel production facility will be the completion of the documentation required to start preparatory work for the steel production decarbonization project, which will culminate in the construction of a new electric arc furnace by 2030,» comments TŽ CEO Roman Heide.

The electric arc furnace will replace half of the existing blast furnace and converter type capacities.

The largest volume of investments in 2024 will be directed towards improving the production of Třinec rails. A new technology for their heat treatment, with an estimated cost of about 900 million crowns, will be launched in November.

“This will allow us to expand our product portfolio and offer a product with a longer service life,” added TŽ Technical Director Henryk Gučala.

It is also planned to build an iron ore briquetting line aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of steel production. The installation will reduce CO₂ emissions to 70 thousand tons per year.

Another important investment measure will be the modernization of blast furnace No. 4 air heater preheating unit, which will contribute to fuel and electricity saving. Thus, the enterprise will reduce CO₂ emissions by almost 19 thousand tons per year. Also, gas savings will be ensured by installation of new burners at several heated stations of the metallurgical plant, which will operate on coke oven gas.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Třinecké Železárny planned to invest more than CZK 1 billion ($45.2 million) in optimization and decarbonization of production processes. The funds were expected to be used to improve product quality, reduce energy consumption and increase the recycling of metallurgical gases.