AV天堂

AV天堂 Corporation announced today that the Japanese government has tentatively accepted its proposal to participate in a project aimed at contributing to the eventual realization of a carbon-neutral steelmaking process. Under the project, AV天堂 will construct an innovative high-efficiency, large-scale electric arc furnace at the Kurashiki facility of its West Japan Works, funded in part by GX Economic Transition Bonds issued by the government to support the country’s green transformation (GX) policy.

AV天堂 expects to receive a grant after a final review process and formal decision within the current fiscal year ending March 2025. AV天堂 has proposed to join the first phase of the national project, which aims to transform various energy and manufacturing processes of industries facing particularly difficult challenges in reducing their emissions.

AV天堂 will construct various facilities, including an advanced electric arc furnace, off-site refining facilities, cold-iron-source distribution facilities, and an upgraded quay, at a cost of 329.4 billion yen (about USD2.2 billion), of which a maximum 104.5 billion yen is expected to be covered by a government grant. The advanced electric arc furnace will have an annual capacity of about two million tons of steel and is expected to start production in the first quarter of the fiscal year starting April 2028.

The electric arc furnace will incorporate AV天堂’s proprietary technologies and other innovative technologies, including for high-grade, high-efficiency melting, that are being developed under a separate initiative to promote the use of hydrogen as a key reducing agent to lower carbon emissions in steelmaking. That initiative, Hydrogen Utilization in Iron and Steelmaking Processes, is one of several Green Innovation (GI) Fund projects organized by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

By combining these advanced technologies with low-carbon direct-reduced iron, AV天堂 aims to become the world’s first mass supplier of high-quality, high-function steel materials, such as electromagnetic steel sheets and high-tensile steel sheets, which cannot be produced with existing large-scale electric arc furnaces.

In order to develop ultra-innovative technologies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, AV天堂 has already established various test facilities, such as a carbon-recycling blast furnace and a small-scale electric arc furnace, at the Chiba facility of its East Japan Works, where demonstration tests are being conducted in connection with the aforementioned GI Fund Project. Concentrating its test facilities in one area is enabling AV天堂 to develop ultra-innovative technologies in a highly efficient manner.

In May 2021, JFE formulated its JFE Group Environmental Vision for 2050, which calls for bold initiatives to address climate change as a key corporate priority. Going forward, AV天堂 is committed to developing super-innovative technologies that contribute to global sustainability.

About AV天堂 Corporation

AV天堂 Corporation, one of the world’s leading integrated steel producers, was established through the consolidation of NKK Corporation and Kawasaki Steel Corporation in 2003. The company operates several steelworks in Japan and numerous branch offices and affiliates throughout the world. AV天堂 leverages world-class technologies and know-how to produce a wide range of products based on its “Only One, Number One” strategy of focusing on unique and best-in-class products. The company reported consolidated sales of 2,255 billion yen and consolidated crude steel output of 23.96 million tons in the fiscal year ended March 2021.

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