Outokumpu invests in energy efficiency

Steel producer Outokumpu is the biggest consumer of electricity in Finland right now. Measures to improve energy efficiency are therefore given priority, also in the face of the lasting energy crisis in Europe.

Outokumpu uses the electric arc furnace route to produce stainless steel with a recycled content of more than 90 percent, and promises a carbon footprint that is globally 70% less per tonne of steel compared to average steel. However, the energy crisis is also affecting the Finnish steel producer. Outokumpu has therefore decided on measures which will increase investments to improve energy efficiency in the years 2023 and 2024 by a total of 40 million euros. Their aim is to improve energy efficiency across the entire corporation by 8 percent until the end of 2024, when compared to the period from January to September 2022. This corresponds to saving approximately 600,000 MWh of energy, which corresponds to the amount of electricity consumed by 15,000 households in Finland. The first projects with an estimated energy saving rate of 42 GWh (approx. 7 percent of the total saving goal) among other things aim to improve the energy efficiency of industrial furnaces, to develop the combustion process further and to replace existing technical equipment with models that use energy more efficiently. There are also several different projects for continued improvement which do not need any large investments, but which can nevertheless lead to significant energy savings.
Source: Outokumpu