Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz steel plant, also known as Donawitz Steelworks, is a steel plant in Leoben, Styria, Austria that operates blast furnace (BF), direct reduced iron (DRI), electric arc furnace (EAF), and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) technology.
Location
The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Leoben, Styria, Austria:
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- Location: Kerpelystraße 199, 8700 Leoben, Austria
- Coordinates (WGS 84): 47.380455, 15.065182 (exact)
Background
The Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz steel plant began operating in 1878, with the history of the plant tracing back to the first hammer mills in Leoben that were established in 1436. In 1878, the construction of the Donawitz-Vordernberg railway line nearby created demand for steel and the plant was erected, with more units and ovens being added on through the years.[1]
In 1991, the Donawitz site split into three separate companies; in 1995, voestalpine had its initial public offering and purchased the site.[1]
In 2007, voestalpine completed the addition of a debris water plant, and in 2008, a captive power plant began operating onsite to power the plant's operations.[1]
In 2017, voestalpine announced it would be investing $114m in various equipment at the Donawitz plant yet no updates on these investments were publicly available.[2]
The plant is known for its low number of onsite employees; in 2017 several articles were published regarding how the plant only needed 14 people to make 500,000 tons of robust steel wire a year.[3][4]
The plant is listed as "Sinteranl., Hochöfen, Stahlwerk Donawitz" in a Sandbag report (link unknown), meaning "Sinter plant, blast furnaces, steelworks Donawitz," meaning it could have a sinter plant as well.
Transition
In March 2023 the company approved a EUR 1.5 billion investment to transition the plant away from BF-BOF production by building an EAF with 850ttpa steelmaking capacity. The EAF, along with another at the company's Linz plant, is expected to be commissioned in 2027. The company also announced that it will be decommissioning two blast furnaces, one each at the two plants in this expansion cycle and two more by 2030.[5]
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 2
|
Project 3
|
| Project name
|
SuSteel
|
HYFOR
|
Greentec steel - Donawitz
|
| Company
|
voestalpine Group
|
voestalpine Group
|
voestalpine Group
|
| Company has climate goals?
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Location
|
Donawitz, Austria
|
Donawitz, Austria
|
Donawitz, Austria
|
| Project website
|
Site
|
Site
|
Site
|
| Project scale
|
Pilot
|
Pilot
|
Full scale
|
| Project status
|
Finalized (research & testing)
|
Finalized (research & testing)
|
Construction
|
| Year to be online
|
2021
|
2021
|
2027
|
| Technology to be used
|
ESR
|
H-DRI
|
BF-BOF to EAF for green iron
|
| Technology details
|
Hydrogen plasma smelting reduction
|
H-DRI + Hy4Smelt (not conventional EAF)
|
EAF using HBI and scrap
|
| Iron production capacity (million tonnes per year)
|
0
|
0
|
Not applicable
|
| Steel production capacity (million tonnes per year)
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
0
|
| CO2 capture (million tonnes CO2 per year)
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
| Hydrogen generation capacity (MW)
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
| Investment size (m USD)
|
Not stated
|
Not stated
|
806.055
|
| Actual start year
|
2021
|
2021
|
–
|
| Partners
|
K1-MET GmbH, University of Leoben
|
Mitsubishi Heavy, Primetals Technologies, Fortescue, K1Met, Universita del salento
|
–
|
| Date of announcement
|
2016-09-01
|
2020-12-28
|
2023-03-22
|
Plant Details
Table 2: General Plant Details
| Start date
|
Workforce size
|
Power source
|
| 1878[6]
|
1356[7]
|
Captive power plant[8]
|
Table 3: Ownership and Parent Company Information
| Parent company
|
Parent company PermID
|
Parent company GEM ID
|
Owner
|
Owner company PermID
|
Owner company GEM ID
|
| Voestalpine AG
|
4295858976
|
E100000000031
|
Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz GmbH[9]
|
5000038424
|
E100000130917
|
Table 4: Process and Products
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
|
–
|
1700[12][13]
|
1700[12][13]
|
| operating
|
720[14]
|
–
|
720[14]
|
| operating pre-retirement
|
850[15]
|
–
|
850[15]
|
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)
|
| operating
|
825[16]
|
1[17]
|
826[17][16]
|
| operating pre-retirement
|
825[16]
|
–
|
825[16]
|
Table 7: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)
| Ferronickel
|
Sinter
|
Coke
|
Pellets
|
| NF[14]
|
1700[16]
|
NF
|
NF
|
Table 8: Actual Plant-level Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)
| Year
|
BOF production
|
Other/unknown steel production
|
| 2019
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
| 2020
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
| 2021
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
| 2022
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
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
|
Unit Details
Table 10: Blast Furnace Details
| Unit name
|
Status
|
Start date
|
Retired date
|
Furnace manufacturer and model
|
Current size
|
Current capacity (ttpa)
|
Decarbonization technology
|
Most recent relining
|
| BF 1
|
operating[18]
|
–
|
–
|
Siemens VAI; Saint-Gobain (parts) Siemens VAI Blast Furnace Design[19][20][20]
|
1205.0[20]
|
825[16]
|
unknown
|
2018-09-25[21]
|
| BF 4
|
operating pre-retirement[12]
|
1941[6]
|
2027[12]
|
Siemens VAI; Paul Wurth (parts); Saint-Gobain (parts) Siemens VAI Blast Furnace Design[19][22][20][20]
|
1343.0[20]
|
825[16]
|
unknown
|
2016[23]
|
Table 11: Direct Reduced Iron Furnace Details
| Unit name
|
Status
|
Start date
|
Furnace manufacturer and model
|
Furnace type
|
Current capacity (ttpa)
|
Reductant
|
| DRI Hyfor
|
operating[17]
|
2024[24]
|
Primetals[17]
|
shaft furnace[17]
|
1[17]
|
hydrogen[17]
|
Table 12: Electric Arc Furnace Details
Table 13: Electric Arc Furnace Feedstock Details
| Unit name
|
Scrap-based
|
% scrap
|
% HBI
|
% basic/merchant pig iron
|
% pig iron (unknown if basic/merchant or granulated
|
| unknown EAF (1)
|
yes[26]
|
>0[26]
|
>0[26]
|
>0[26]
|
–
|
| unknown EAF (2)
|
yes[26]
|
>0[26]
|
>0[26]
|
–
|
>0[26]
|
Table 14: Basic Oxygen Furnace Details
| Unit name
|
Status
|
Retired date
|
Current capacity (ttpa)
|
Current size
|
| unknown BOF (1)
|
operating pre-retirement[12]
|
2027[12]
|
850[15]
|
65.0 tonnes[28]
|
| unknown BOF (2)
|
operating[12]
|
–
|
720[14]
|
65.0 tonnes[28]
|
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
Resources
