Steelmakers may still be concerned about the cpotential costs of Europe’s Emissions Trading System. Although costs will likely be less than estimated by many (see below) the additional cost of power is still a worry. However, this does not change the fact that captive power supply should still cut costs. Power generators expect to be able to pass on thier costs from the ETS to customers in full. As such the additional cost to captive production should be equal to the additional cost of buying in power. Meanwhile, steelmakers with captive power will be able to choose how to allocate their allocated carbon credits, potentially making their additional costts lower.
Platts SBB News – 1 June 2012 German steelmaker Salzgitter is around 60% self-sufficient in electricity across its strip steel plant in Salzgitter and its Peiner beams mill. The electricity generated at the strip mill site – by two in-house power plants – has an annual market value of around €150m, the company told Platts Steel Business Briefing.
The two 110 megawatt units were finished a few years ago and have since been optimised. Strip production in Salzgitter is now 92% self-sufficient, whereas the Peiner meltshop still relies 100% on external power suppliers.
Together, the Salzgitter stations produce roughly one terawatt of power per year, all of which is consumed on site, the company said. Self-supply creates an annual saving for the company of up to €25m, according to the firm’s spokesman.
However, changes to the European Union’s emissions trading scheme for carbon-dioxide from 2013 onwards could mean that Germany’s steel industry incurs extra costs totalling up to €485m/year, according to Salzgitter’s comments to the German press.
This action would add additional costs of between €17 and €37 per tonne of steel produced, according to Salzgitter’s ceo, Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann.
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