News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 22 Oct 2026

Green steel production in Europe requires a unified energy strategy – Saarstahl

Competitive green production requires appropriate political and economic conditions

Europe needs a common action plan to provide industry with affordable electricity and hydrogen, as the transition to green steel is impossible without solving energy issues. This was stated by Stefan Rauber, Chairman of the Management Board of SHS Group and CEO of the German company Saarstahl.

According to him, at the first stage of the transformation, the company plans to launch new direct reduced iron (DRI) capacities and electric arc furnaces (EAF). By 2028–2029, this will make it possible to produce about 3.5 million tonnes of low-carbon steel per year.

However, competitive green production requires appropriate political and economic conditions:

1. Energy resources and raw materials. Competitive electricity and hydrogen prices are critical for decarbonization. Rauber calls for scaling up the construction of wind and solar power plants and notes that the company is already increasing purchases of ferrous scrap to support production.
2. Protectionism and CBAM. It is necessary to ensure the effective operation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and to maintain trade defense measures against imports of cheap products.
3. Energy security. The halt of Russian gas supplies due to the war in Ukraine has demonstrated Europe’s vulnerability. Rauber noted the dilemma regarding nuclear power: Germany is shutting down its own nuclear power plants but is forced to buy nuclear electricity from France.

The head of Saarstahl noted that the difference in energy prices between EU countries is an underestimated problem. The transition from traditional steelmaking to green technologies is a complex engineering process that requires a holistic European strategy for the entire industry.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the global steel industry is concerned about the slow progress of green steel. According to Worldsteel, about half of the world’s planned green steel projects have already been postponed. At the same time, governments have allocated only $20 billion of the $1.5 trillion needed to decarbonize the sector.

Source:GMK Center