Electra Partners with Nucor to Usher in a New Era of Green Steelmaking
08 December 2022 - 1:30PM
Business Wire
The green iron startup works with largest
steel producer in the U.S. to scale green steel production
Electra, a green iron company, announced it has partnered with
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE), the largest steel producer in the
U.S. Through this partnership, Electra will scale its
Low-Temperature Iron (LTI) solution that emits zero carbon dioxide
emissions using low-grade ores and intermittent renewable
electricity. In addition, through this partnership, Nucor, the
largest EAF steelmaker and steel scrap recycler in North America,
will use Electra's iron to further lower the carbon emissions of
its industry-leading sustainable steel and steel products. Along
with an equity investment in Electra, Doug Jellison, Executive Vice
President of Raw Materials at Nucor, has joined Electra's market
advisory board, bringing over 30 years of steel industry
operational and management experience to the startup.
Electra has created a novel process to electrochemically refine
iron ore into pure iron at 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees
Fahrenheit), or colder than a cup of coffee, from low-grade ores
using intermittent renewable electricity. With zero gangue, zero
embedded carbon emissions, and competitive with prime-grade scrap
and ore-based metallic iron produced by fossil fuels, Electra's
iron is an ideal feedstock for electric arc furnace (EAF)
steelmaking.
For over 50 years, Nucor has used EAF steelmaking to recycle
scrap metal into new steel products, making it one of the cleanest
steel producers in the world. The new partnership with Electra
builds on Nucor's commitment to a 35% reduction in the GHG
intensity of its steelmaking by 2030.
“As part of our commitment to further reduce our GHG intensity,
we are investing in a number of emerging technologies to help
reduce our Scope 3 emissions for the raw materials mix we use to
make advanced grades steel," said Doug Jellison, Executive Vice
President of Raw Materials at Nucor. “Electra’s process to produce
carbon-free iron has the potential to transform the steel
industry.”
Sandeep Nijhawan, CEO and co-founder of Electra, said: "Today,
as deployed renewable energy increases and the supply of
higher-grade iron ores decreases, we see a significant opportunity
for Electra's ironmaking process to drive sustainable iron and
steelmaking. Electra's solution to remove gigatons of carbon
dioxide emissions from steel production and other hard-to-abate
industries goes hand-in-hand with Nucor's commitment to a
sustainable future. We are grateful for partners like Nucor who are
helping to scale Electra's process of green iron production."
For centuries, steel has been predominantly produced by burning
coal, emitting about two tons of carbon dioxide per ton of steel
and causing 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions annually. In
collaboration with Nucor, Electra's cost-effective green iron
method, when paired with EAF steelmaking, presents a unique path to
electrify and decarbonize the entire mine-to-metal value chain of
the steel industry.
About Electra Electra, a green iron company, is bending
the trajectory of climate change by electrifying iron refining. Our
products — pure green iron and other green feedstocks — remove
gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions from steel production and
other hard-to-abate industries, accelerating a return to a healthy
carbon balance on earth. The company is headquartered in Boulder,
CO with a development facility in Boston, MA. To learn more about
Electra's mission, visit: www.electra.earth.
About Nucor Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of
steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United
States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and
alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural
section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling;
steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete
reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel
fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead
doors; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The
David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous
metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron;
supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.
Nucor is North America's largest recycler.
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Pakelody Cheam BerlinRosen electra@berlinrosen.com
Simon Lomax Electra Corporate Affairs Advisor
media@electra.earth