JSW Steel to allocate $2 billion for decarbonization

JSW Steel, one of India’s leading steel producers, has announced an investment of approximately $2 billion in a decarbonization program. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, according to btMAG.

The key areas for achieving this goal are the use of renewable energy, increasing the share of scrap metal in production, and introducing the latest technologies, in particular hydrogen-based steel production.

JSW has already launched 800 MW of green energy capacity and plans to increase this figure to 2.5 GW in the near future and to 10 GW by 2030 at various company sites.

At its plant in Vijayanagar (Karnataka), JSW is building an innovative hydrogen-based complex: a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant and a 3,800-ton hydrogen production plant. These are expected to form the basis for low-carbon steel production in the future.

Thanks to the SEED (Sustainable Energy Environment and Decarbonisation) programme, the company has already reduced CO2 emissions by more than 3.5 million tonnes. In addition, JSW is expanding the use of scrap metal, improving equipment for its processing and experimenting with converting slag into sand and cement materials.

By 2030, the company aims to reduce emissions to 1.95 tons of CO2 per ton of steel. It is being helped in this by international partners who supply green technologies, as well as by the modernization of old enterprises.

Despite challenges, including the high cost of hydrogen and the limited supply of high-quality scrap, JSW is trying to balance the needs of the steel market with its climate commitments.

As GMK Center reported earlier, JSW Group plans to invest $5.8-7 billion in the development of its green steel plant in Salav (Maharashtra). The plant will export its products to the European market, which is in the process of introducing a cross-border carbon adjustment mechanism (CBAM).