Russia’s Ecolant starts building 150 bln rbl green steel plant

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (PRIME) -- Ecolant has started building Russia’s first, 150 billion ruble green electric-furnace steelmaking plant in the city of Vyksa, the Industry and Trade Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The plant, to be launched in 2025, will produce up to 1.8 million tonnes of high-quality slabs and round-shaped steel blanks per year. The project’s financing comes from a special investment contract signed with the government and from a syndicate of state development corporation VEB.RF, Sberbank, and Otkritie Financial Corporation Bank.

“The green metallurgy project from Ecolant is unique, it provides solutions aimed at significant reduction of the negative impact on the environment,” the ministry quoted Minister Denis Mantrurov as saying.

“CO2 and sulfur dioxide emissions to the atmosphere will be reduced by three times compared with the traditional converter production technology thanks to introduction of a green technology of steel production using hot metal-covered pellets received from direct reduction of iron.”

(75.3042 rubles – U.S. $1)

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