Hesham Saad Al-Sherbiny: Steel Industry And the transition to the use of solar energy
Arabian Steel Industries Technical Advisor
As the world becomes more focused on limiting global warming , industries are reducing their emissions and using fossil fuels where possible.
After this surge in demand for renewable energy technologies, steelmaking facilities are increasingly exploring the opportunities that solar energy presents for steel production.
Steel is generally a resource-heavy industry and emissions, but it also plays a vital role in producing the materials needed to move to a more sustainable global economic model.
Wind turbines, solar farms, and hydroelectric dams are all dense infrastructure that supports the production of renewable energy.
If the world is to succeed in reducing the effects of climate change, it will rely on steel to help it achieve that goal as the steel industry works hard to improve the efficiency of its operations… Producing a ton of steel consumes 40% less energy than in 1960… Solar energy is set to play a key role in improving the sustainability of steel..
Revolutionizing the steel industry based on electric arc furnaces or induction furnaces in the next 20 years with the aim of saving costs and reducing carbon emissions, as solar affordability has improved by 85% in the past five years, with solar tariffs ranging from $0.018/kWh in Saudi Arabia to $0.024.024 in the UAE, $0.029 in Chile and $0.038 in India,.
The steel industry is growing in popularity in induction furnaces and competitors to arc furnaces because they consume less energy and emit about 50% less carbon dioxide compared to basic production based on an oxygen furnace, which means they will help achieve stricter sustainability goals.
Solar power plants can easily be integrated with smelting units, whether electric arc furnaces or induction furnaces, thus providing Reducing carbon dioxide emissions by at least 25%, in addition to a 35% reduction in operating expenses from the steel industry’s sustainability goals…
The cost of solar energy storage has fallen and is set to drop significantly in the next five years, enabling 24-hour operation no matter how much energy that is not used during the day can be stored overnight.
Today’s storage costs are $0.058-0.07/kWh and are expected to drop to $0.009-0.012/kWh in 2030.
This will give an estimated average day-to-night cost of $0.015/kWh.
Building a solar power plant is also a relatively fast process.
It starts with a technical feasibility study lasting 8 to 10 weeks; then comes the land and network assessment, approaching lenders and finally structuring.
The solar sector will not only reduce costs, but will also be a major alternative to the steel sector in the infrastructure sector…
