Credit: ArcelorMittal
On Thursday 11 January 2018, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider, together with the Managing Director of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg, Roland Bastian, outlined the details of an innovative project to recover the excess heat generated during the production of steel sheet piles on the ArcelorMittal Esch-Belval site. The solution is to use the heat coming out at about 400°C from the pre-rolling sheet pile heating furnace, to heat water via an exchanger before injecting it into the heating network of the neighbourhood.
The heat recovered, equivalent to the annual needs of 4,000 houses, is injected into the 20-kilometre long SUDCAL heating network, which supplies heat to the entire Esch-Belval district as well as to the Nonnewisen and Sommet districts, i.e. 180 connected customers, to cover 70% of SUDCAL's heating needs.
This cooperation allows SUDCAL to benefit from an easily available energy source, which until now was not exploited, and to avoid the consumption of natural gas and thus reduce emissions of 5,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The Heat Recovery Facility will be operational mid-2018.
During the press conference, Minister Schneider said "In line with the conclusions of the Rifkin strategic study, the synergy between the ArcelorMittal industrial plant and the supplier of SUDCAL heat is a typical example of sustainable energy supply within a so-called 'smart-district' neighbourhood."
Roland Bastian, director of ArcelorMittal Luxembourg said "ArcelorMittal's environmental footprint is a subject we are constantly working on. This project reflects our desire to contribute to the Grand Duchy's efforts to reduce energy consumption nationally. This innovative system will save SUDCAL up to 18,000 MWh per year, the energy needed to heat 4,000 homes a year and reduce CO2 emissions by 5,000 tonnes a year. This initiative fits perfectly with ArcelorMittal's desire to promote sustainable development."
