Moeve and ArcelorMittal Launch 50/50 Innovation Platform for Green Steel

Energy company Moeve and steel giant ArcelorMittal are establishing a jointly owned innovation platform under the Green Molecules to Green Steel alliance, directing shared research capacity toward low-carbon energy carriers for the European steel industry.

The 50/50 venture will bring together both companies’ research centres to develop and scale solutions built around biogas, biomethane, renewable hydrogen and second-generation biofuels — technologies intended to displace conventional fossil fuels and create a commercially viable pathway to low-carbon steel production.

The hub will operate across three technical fronts: carbon capture and utilisation; optimising manufacturing processes through biotechnology; and applying artificial intelligence to engineer materials with enhanced performance characteristics.

Funding will draw on the founding partners’ own capital as well as public resources. Spain’s Asturian regional agency Sekuens is also set to participate, and the platform remains open to additional investors.

The partnership takes shape against a difficult backdrop. Half of planned green-steel projects are currently on hold, and governments have so far committed only $20 billion of the estimated $1.5 trillion needed to decarbonise the European steel sector. According to GMK Center, progress is likely to remain slow without a significant rise in public financing — or buyers willing to pay a premium for lower-emissions steel.

Each partner arrives with related strategic programmes already under way. Moeve is pursuing its Positive Motion initiative, including an Andalusian green hydrogen valley and a second-generation biofuel plant under construction. ArcelorMittal is advancing two low-carbon steel projects at its facilities in Sestao and Gijón.

Source: GMK Center