Vestas, the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions, has established a partnership with ArcelorMittal to launch a low carbon-emissions steel offering that significantly reduces the lifetime carbon dioxide emissions from the production of wind turbine towers.
The low carbon-emissions steel is produced using 100% steel scrap which is melted in an electric arc furnace powered by 100% wind energy at the ArcelorMittal steel mill, Industeel Charleroi, in Belgium. The steel slabs are then transformed into heavy plates used for the manufacture of wind turbine towers, at ArcelorMittal’s heavy plate mill in Gijón, Spain. These heavy plates, made with XCarb® recycled and renewably produced heavy plate steel, are initially suitable for the entire onshore wind turbine towers and the top section of offshore wind turbine towers. The low carbon-emissions heavy plate steel has an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), certified by an independent party, detailing the complete environmental footprint of the product, and allowing easier comparison between products. ArcelorMittal is the only steel producer to produce low-carbon emissions heavy plate steel in large dimensions (up to 18 tonnes), minimising the need for welding and associated CO₂ emissions.
By utilising low carbon-emissions steel in the top two sections of an offshore tower, this emissions reduction translates to a 25% reduction in emissions compared with a tower made from steel produced via the conventional steelmaking route. For an entire onshore tower, the CO₂ reduction is at least 52%.