Germany received the green light to support the production of so-called green steel with €2 billion, the European Commission announced on Thursday, providing much-needed relief to the country’s ailing steel sector.
After reviewing whether it is in line with EU state aid rules, the Commission approved Germany’s plans to inject €2 billion into a new Thyssenkrupp plant, scheduled to open in 2026, with the funds coming from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
“This is an enormously important decision for climate protection and Germany as an industrial base […] Not least, it’s about many jobs which are now future-proofed due to the proposal,” German Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in response to the Commission’s announcement.
On Wednesday, the Commission had already allowed the German state to support private investments linked to the green transition with up to €3 billion. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s parting Competition Commissioner, called Germany’s plans “an important step towards Europe’s ambitious climate targets.”
The ThyssenKrupp plant has been hailed as an important milestone in the green transition, with the ministry hoping it will single-handedly cut German steel industry emissions by 6%.
It will run on natural gas at the start but will later transition to producing steel entirely from green hydrogen until 2037, something Habeck celebrated “as an important impulse for the hydrogen business in Germany and Europe”.
The Commission’s approval also provides a much-needed boost to Germany’s ailing steel industry, which accounts for a third of the country’s industrial emissions, making it a key target for the green transition.
Like Thyssenkrupp, steel producers in Germany are said to be unable to finance technological change due to poor investment prospects and high production and energy costs.
Meanwhile, competing companies from abroad are expected to continue producing cheaper, dirtier steel well into the century’s second half.
(Nick Alipour | EURACTIV.de)
Read more with EURACTIV
Iraqi-Swedish relations reach lowest point after another Quran burning
Source: euractiv.com
