Sidenor is modernizing its plant in Basaur for €14 million

The company will install a new system of electric vacuum pumps to replace traditional gas boilers

Specialty steel producer Sidenor is modernizing its plant in Basaur (Spain). The investment amounts to €13.6 million ($15.9 million). This was reported by Kallanish.

The company considers this project strategic for enhancing its competitiveness. The modernization plan covers steel refining processes and the operation of the rolling mill reheating furnace.

Key changes and technologies:

1. The company will install a new system of electric vacuum pumps to replace traditional natural gas-fired boilers. Previously, this process relied on steam generated by burning fossil fuels, which resulted in significant energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
2. Thanks to the new technology, the vacuum will be created entirely using electricity. This will allow the company to eliminate gas use at this stage of production, save approximately 35,000 MWh of energy, and reduce Scope 1 emissions by 5%.
3. The investment program also includes improvements to the oxygen enrichment system in the reheating furnace. This will improve combustion efficiency, allowing for higher temperatures to be reached with lower gas consumption.

As a reminder, at the end of last year, Sidenor conducted the first tests of burning green hydrogen in the main production cycle—the ladle heating process at the Basaur plant. At that time, the company replaced a conventional burner with a hydrogen-based oxyfuel burner. The tests confirmed the ability to achieve the required operating temperatures and were conducted as part of the IS2H4C project (Horizon Europe program).