ArcelorMittal to Get $491 Million Spanish Subsidy for Hydrogen Plant

By Pierre Bertrand

ArcelorMittal will receive a 450 million euro ($490.7 million) subsidy from the Spanish government for its circular-hydrogen project in Asturias, in the north of the country.

The subsidy will go toward ArcelorMittal's plan to build a 2.3 million-ton green-hydrogen direct reduced iron plant in Gijon, a company spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish government said during a press conference Tuesday that the Luxembourg-based steelmaker was to receive the aid for the project, which will support more than 6,000 jobs and would be the first of its kind in Spain.

The plan is to have the plant start operating by the end of 2025. Natural gas will be phased out of the steelmaking process and replaced with hydrogen.

The plant will substitute one of two blast furnaces at the company's site, the spokesman said.

The subsidy award follows the European Commission's approval of the Spanish subsidy plan in February 2023. The Spanish government pledged financial assistance in an agreement with ArcelorMittal back in June 2022.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 04, 2023 12:58 ET (16:58 GMT)

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