13. December 2023 | Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck and Minister President Anke Rehlinger pledge joint funding and jointly commit to promoting green steel.
“This is one of the largest transformation projects in Europe,” says Heiko Maas, President of the Saarhütten Association, about the ‘Pure Steel+’ concept. “It’s not just about the mega project to produce green steel in Saarland, it’s not just about the Saarland steel industry taking on a pioneering role in the production of green steel. It is also about developing Saarland as a whole into a green economic region.”
The funding commitments made by Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, and Minister President Anke Rehlinger are a prerequisite for the production of green steel in the Saarland. The substantial amount of funding totalling 2.6 billion euros shows the confidence of the federal and state governments in Saarland’s highly innovative steel companies. “I would like to thank Robert Habeck, Minister President Anke Rehlinger and Minister of Economic Affairs Jürgen Barke for their support and close monitoring,” says Maas. Maas also congratulates the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Stefan Rauber, on this result. “Stefan Rauber made this result possible in the first place with his skilful and equally unyielding conduct of negotiations. He is the real architect of this success,” Maas said.
This also secures the hydrogen ramp-up for the entire region. The Stahl-Holding-Saar project is a special economic stimulus programme for large parts of the Saarland economy and an investment in technological expertise and know-how for the future.
Large quantities of renewable energy and green hydrogen are required for the new climate-friendly processes. Affordable energy prices will be even more decisive for the competitiveness of the industry in the future. In this respect, the connection to the national hydrogen core network is just as elementary as an affordable industrial electricity price.
“Habeck’s visit to Saarland today was a very important signal to counteract the uncertainty that has arisen in recent weeks regarding the financial viability of the transformation and to regain lost trust,” said Maas.
