Luxembourg-based steel and mining company ArcelorMittal yesterday announced plans to invest more than €100 million in Coke Oven Batteries in the Spanish city of Gijón.
The two-year project will involve the refurbishing and recommissiong of existing facilities to ensure compliance with the environmental requirements defined in the current integrated environmental authorisation granted for the facility.
The main part of the investment will involve the reconstruction of two 45-oven batteries at the Gijón coke plant at the Asturias' branch of ArcelorMittal, as well as the installation of a state-of-the-art emission collection and scrubbing system and the implementation of efficient systems to manage by-products.
The project will also comprise several additional investments in other facilities which will subsequently be adapted in conjunction with the re-start of the batteries, due to produce their first coke batches in the first half of 2018. Once in operation, the Gijón coke oven batteries will meet the coke requirements of the site's blast furnaces.
"The investment approved will ensure cke production in ArcelorMittal Asturias for the next 40 years, and will contribute to securing the future of the steel industry in our region," commented José Manuel Arias, Asturias Cluster CEO.
The refurbishment work will begin in the middle of 2016, and the coke oven batteries are expected to reach full capacity in 2019.
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