The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced that Algoma Steel Inc. will receive up to $420 million to retrofit their operations and phase out coal-fired steelmaking processes at their facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

This funding will enable the company to purchase state-of-the-art equipment to support its transition to Electric-Arc Furnace production. This electricity-based process is expected to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 3 million metric tonnes per year by 2030, making a meaningful contribution to achieving Canada’s climate goals. This is equivalent to taking more than 900,000 passenger vehicles off the road – almost the number of passenger vehicles in Toronto.

“The 70 per cent carbon reduction resulting from Algoma’s proposed transformation to Electric-Arc Furnace technology represents one of the lowest cost-per-tonne opportunities to achieve large-scale sustainable GHG reductions in Canada,” said Algoma Steel’s CEO Michael McQuade. “The world can’t get to net-zero without steel. The combination of an Electric-Arc Furnace with Ontario’s low carbon electricity will give our customers and infrastructure investments a green steel advantage.”

“Today’s announcement is great news for the people of Sault Ste. Marie. It will help Algoma Steel create good middle class jobs and cut pollution, while positioning Canada as a leader in cleaner and greener steelmaking,” said Trudeau.

As part of this investment of up to $420 million, Algoma Steel will receive up to $200 million from the Strategic Innovation Fund’s Net Zero Accelerator initiative and $220 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The total cost of Algoma’s project is $703 million.

“This project, when fully executed, will significantly reduce greenhouse gases, strengthen the competitiveness of the Canadian steel industry, and solidify local economic growth potential,” added Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada Infrastructure Bank. “This retrofit of industrial infrastructure is an example of the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s $10B Growth Plan in action.”

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Featured image: (Algoma.com)

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