The provincial government has announced its commitment towards a $1.8-billion green steel transformation at Hamilton’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
Premier Doug Ford says his government is investing $500 million in grants and loans into a project that calls for coke ovens and blast furnaces to be mothballed and replaced with electric arc furnaces by 2028.
Ford says the investment will help meet the global demand for low-carbon auto production.
“Right now, cars makers are investing billions and billions of dollars, searching for ways to reduce carbon emissions along their supply chain,” Ford says. “That search starts and ends right here in Hamilton.”
ArcelorMittal Dofasco president and CEO Ron Bedard says the modernization positions the steelmaker to build on its 109-year legacy of leadership in Canadian manufacturing.
“The scale of this investment strengthens our steel-making future in Hamilton for yet another generation,” says Bedard.
The project is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s largest carbon polluter by two-thirds when it is completed in 2028.
“We will decommission our coke plants and our blast furnaces,” adds Bedard. “Coal will not be used in our future processes here at Dofasco.”
The federal Liberal government has also committed $400 million to the project.
François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, announced Ottawa’s support last summer, calling the project an environmental “game-changer.”
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