POSCO Gwangyang steel plant

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POSCO Gwangyang steel plant, also known as Pohang Iron & Steel Gwangyang, is a steel plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, South Korea that operates blast furnace (BF), basic oxygen furnace (BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF), and direct reduced iron (DRI) technology.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, South Korea:

Loading map...
  • Location: 20-26, Pokposarang-gil, Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea
  • Coordinates (WGS 84): 34.920086, 127.74865 (exact)

Background

POSCO Gwangyang plant was constructed in four phases between 1982 and 1992.[1] POSCO Gwangyang houses five out the fourteen blast furnaces larger than 5500 m3 in the world.[2][3] Blast furnace #3 was restarted in July 2020 after being rebuilt for the third time.[4] Blast furnace #3 added 4.6 mtpa crude steel capacity to POSCO Gwangyang steel plant, bringing the plant's crude steel capacity up from 18 mtpa to 23 mtpa to become the largest steel plant in the world in 2016.[4][5] A steel mill in China (Zhangjiagang Hongchang Steel Co., Ltd.) has since exceeded the capacity of the POSCO Gwangyang steel plant.[6]

In November 2020, three workers were killed in an explosion at POSCO Gwangyang.[7]

2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap

POSCO is also planning to invest in an electric furnace (EAF) each for its Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks. The expansion project is expected to produce 2.5 million tonnes of hot metal annually with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality. The news article from May 2023, mentioned that it was unlikely that annual crude steel production will increase from the two facilities.[8] Operations were scheduled to start from 2025.[8]

In June 2023, POSCO Gwangyang placed an order with Tenova for an Electric Arc Furnace equipped with Consteel and Electromagnetic Stirrer Consterrer, as part of it decarbonisation pursuit. The EAF with capacity of 2500 ttpa will be able to reduce carbon emissions by about 3.5 million tons per year compared to blast furnace production.[9][10][11][12]

In February 2024, POSCO started construction of the EAF unit, which was expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and start operations in 2026. The total investment in the project is estimated at KRW 600 billion.[13]

Under the company's 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap POSCO plans to phase-out traditional blast furnace technology by 2050 and adopt renewable and green hydrogen-based steelmaking technology in its plants in South Korea.[14][15] POSCO plans to develop the hydrogen reduction steel plant by reclaiming land from sea which is expected to be completed by 2041 and begin full operation of hydrogen reduction steel facility by 2050.[16][17]

Low-emissions/green steelmaking

This steel plant is associated with a green steel project tracked in the Green Steel Tracker. Details about the project are included below.

Table 1: Green Steel Project Details

All references for the above data are available in the Green Steel Tracker.
Project 1
Project name Gwangyang
Company POSCO Holdings
Company has climate goals? Yes
Location Gwangyang, South Korea
Project website Not available
Project scale Full scale
Project status Construction
Year to be online 2026
Technology to be used BF-BOF to EAF
Technology details EAF
Iron production capacity (million tonnes per year) Not stated
Steel production capacity (million tonnes per year) 2
CO2 capture (million tonnes CO2 per year) Not applicable
Hydrogen generation capacity (MW) Not applicable
Investment size (m USD) 461.31
Partners Consteel , Tenova
Date of announcement 2023-02-21

Plant Details

Table 2: General Plant Details

Construction date Start date Workforce size Power source Iron ore source Coal source
1985[18] 1987[19] 4080[20] unknown Imported from Australia[21] Imported from Australia[21]

Table 3: Ownership and Parent Company Information

State-owned entity status Parent company Parent company PermID Parent company GEM ID Owner Owner company PermID Owner company GEM ID
Partial POSCO Holdings Inc 4295881204 E100000000953 POSCO Holdings Inc[22] 4295881204 E100000000953

Table 4: Process and Products

Steel product category Steel products Steel sector end users ISO 14001 ISO 50001 Responsible steel Main production equipment
finished rolled[23] galvanized, wire rod, plate, stainless, cold rolled, hot rolled[23] automotive, building and infrastructure, energy, steel packaging, tools and machinery, transport[23] 2024-07-30[24][25] 2024-09-25[24][25] 2022-10-12[26] BF; DRI; BOF; EAF

Table 5: Plant-level Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

1Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Capacity operating status1 Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
construction 2500[27][28] 2500[27][28]
operating 22999[29][28] 22999[29][28]

Table 6: Plant-level Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

1Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Capacity operating status1 Blast furnace capacity Sponge iron/DRI capacity Nominal iron capacity (total)
construction 2500[30] 2500[30]
operating 24750[31][32][33][34][35][36] 24750[31][32][33][34][35][36]

Table 7: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Ferronickel Sinter Coke Pellets
54[37] 8826[38] 2850[38] NF

Table 8: Actual Plant-level Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year BOF production Total (all routes)
2019 20631[39] 20631[39]
2020 20309[39] 20309[39]
2021 21643[18] 21643[18]
2022 19343[18] 19343[18]
2023 20171[18] 20171[18]

Table 9: Actual Plant-level Crude Iron Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year BF production Other/unknown iron production
2019 unknown unknown
2020 unknown unknown
2021 unknown unknown
2022 unknown unknown
2023 unknown unknown

Unit Details

Table 10: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name Status Construction date Start date Furnace manufacturer and model Current size Current capacity (ttpa) Decarbonization technology Most recent relining
BF 1 operating[40] 1987[36] Davy International; POSCO[41][42] 6000.0 m3[43][44] 5650[36] unknown 2013-06-07[45]
BF 2 operating[40] 1988[34][46] Davy International; POSCO[41][42] 4350.0 m3[47] 4500[34] unknown 2003-05[48]
BF 3 operating[40] 1990[49][32][46] Davy International; POSCO[42][50] 5500.0 m3[49][51] 4600[32][35] Upgraded in 2020 to an "eco-friendly" smart furnace, with little specific information about how the use of AI will reduce emissions.[49][33] 2020-07-10[52]
BF 4 operating[53] 1992[54] Davy International; POSCO; Paul Wurth (parts)[55][56][42] 5500.0 m3[44] 5000[33] Upgraded in 2022 to an "eco-friendly" smart furnace, with little specific information about how the use of AI will reduce emissions.[57] 2022-06[58]
BF 5 operating[40] 1996-10-15[46] 2000[49][51] Davy International; POSCO[41][42][50] 5500.0 m3[44] 5000[31] unknown 2016-06[59]

Table 11: Direct Reduced Iron Furnace Details

Unit name Status Start date Furnace manufacturer and model Furnace type Current capacity (ttpa)
unknown DRI (1) construction[30] 2026[60] HyREX[30] fluidized bed[61] 2500[30]

Table 12: Electric Arc Furnace Details

Unit name Status Construction date Start date Furnace manufacturer and model Current capacity (ttpa) Current size (tonnes)
unknown EAF (1) construction[30] 2024-02-06[30][62] 2026[30][63] Tenova and ABB Consteel and Electromagnetic Stirrer Consteerrer equipped EAF[63][63] 2500[27][28] 280.0[64]

Table 13: Electric Arc Furnace Feedstock Details

Unit name Scrap-based % scrap % basic/merchant pig iron
unknown EAF (1) yes[63] >0[63] >0[63]

Table 14: Basic Oxygen Furnace Details

Unit name Status Construction date Start date Furnace manufacturer and model Current capacity (ttpa) Current size
unknown BOF (1) operating[65] 1986[46] LD converter[29] 2867[29][28] 280.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (2) operating[65] 1987[29] LD converter[29] 2867[29][28] 280.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (3) operating[65] 1987[29] LD converter[29] 2867[29][28] 280.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (4) operating[65] 1990[29] LD Converter[29] 2888[29][28] 282.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (5) operating[65] 1990[29] LD Converter[29] 2888[29][28] 282.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (6) operating[65] 1990[29] LD Converter[29] 2888[29][28] 282.0 tonnes[29]
unknown BOF (7) operating[65] 2008-02[66] 2010[29][66] POSCO E&C LD Converter[66][29] 2867[29][28] 280.0 tonnes[49][51][66]
unknown BOF (8) operating[65] 2008-02[66] 2010[29][66] POSCO E&C LD Converter[66][29] 2867[29][28] 280.0 tonnes[49][51][66]

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Iron and Steel Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

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