Steel group GMH Gruppe and ENGIE conclude Power Purchase Agreement

GMH Gruppe and ENGIE have concluded a Power Purchase Agreement for the supply of renewable energy with Guarantees of Origin (GoOs). The purpose of the PPA is to be able to operate the inductive single-bar tempering plant (EVA) at Georgsmarienhütte site with 100% renewable energy throughout. The supply of electricity and the Guarantees of Origin are carried out in compliance with the rules on the optional coupling of electricity generation and supply.

The green electricity will be sourced from two plants in Germany, including a wind farm that no longer receives subsidies under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and a newly constructed solar farm.

For GMH Gruppe, the PPA is another important milestone in its transformation towards climate-neutral steel production. By using the EVA, and the associated switch from natural gas to (green) electricity in the heat treatment of steel, more than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 can be saved over the next ten years. GMH Gruppe has set itself the goal of reducing CO2 emissions to almost zero by 2039. By 2030, its greenhouse gases are to be halved compared to 2019.

“With ENGIE’s cooperation on the coupled supply of electricity, we have now taken the important final step towards being able to operate our single heat treatment system in a holistically sustainable manner. Steel processing on the electrically powered EVA is not only more efficient and powerful than the previous heat treatment, but also runs on 100% green electricity,” explains Matthias Funke, Director Commodity Management at GMH Gruppe.

Marc Oliver Arnold, Plant Director at Georgsmarienhütte, comments: “We are delighted that, in addition to the fully electric melting of steel, we are now able to make a second major production area at Georgsmarienhütte climate-friendly with the transformation of steel tempering. This represents another important step towards achieving our climate targets.”

As the world’s leading provider of PPAs, ENGIE supports companies on the path to decarbonisation. “Our goal is to make renewable energy available to companies. We are delighted to be able to support GMH Gruppe in its decarbonisation efforts. By combining a decarbonised wind farm with a new solar farm, the PPA also helps to ensure that both urgently needed wind turbines remain on the grid and new plants are built,” says Philip Meissner, Senior Originator at ENGIE Energy Management Solutions.

ENGIE is one of the leading portfolio owners of post-EEG plants in Germany and is strongly committed to the expansion of renewable energies.

About ENGIE Deutschland and the ENGIE Group

ENGIE’s mission is the transition to climate neutrality. In Germany, we plan, build, operate and market wind, photovoltaic and hydropower plants as well as pumped storage and battery storage systems. We support industrial customers, municipalities and the housing industry in implementing their sustainability goals by optimising consumption and implementing and operating highly efficient building and energy technology systems. We support the development of sustainable neighbourhoods with concepts for climate-friendly heat supply, mobility and digitalisation. We trade in electricity and gas, supply end customers with energy, offer interdisciplinary engineering solutions in the fields of energy, water and infrastructure and are one of the leading storage operators in Germany. In 2023, the ENGIE companies in Germany with around 5,900 employees generated sales of 2.75 billion euros.

The French parent company ENGIE SA is a global reference in low-carbon energy and services and is committed to accelerating the transition to a Carbon neutral world by reducing energy consumption and offering greener solutions. The publicly listed company achieved a turnover of around 82.6 billion euros in 2023 with 97,000 employees. engie-deutschland.de/engie.com

Über die GMH Gruppe

GMH Gruppe is a full-range supplier of steel as a primary material, melted from scrap, through to ready-to-assemble components. It is one of the largest privately owned metal processing companies in Europe. The group includes more than 15 medium-sized production companies in the steel, forging and casting industries, which are represented in over 50 countries. With more than 6,000 employees, GMH Gruppe generates an annual turnover of more than two billion euros.

GMH Gruppe is a pioneer in sustainable steel production and has been accepted into the ‘Association of Climate Protection Companies’. Based on the recycling of scrap metal, the company produces green steel and thus makes an important contribution to the circular economy. The use of electric arc furnaces at four sites reduces CO2 emissions by a factor of five compared to conventional blast furnaces. This also reduces the CO2 footprint of the customers supplied by GMH. These include companies worldwide from the automotive industry, mechanical and plant engineering, railway technology, power generation, transport logistics, aerospace, agriculture and construction machinery sectors. GMH Gruppe has set itself the goal of being completely climate-neutral by 2039. Further information can be found at www.gmh-gruppe.de