Japan: Aichi Steel to buy renewable electricity for decarbonising steel operations

Takahiro Fujioka, President of Aichi Steel, will begin full-scale activities to promote carbon neutrality at domestic production units. On 22 Feb'22, the company announced that it would purchase an FIT, non-fossil certificates and introduce renewable electricity in the non-fossil value trading market of the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX).

The electricity purcased is for four plants: the Kariya factory which is the site of production of stainless steel and titanium materials; the Seki factory specialising in production of magnets; the Gifu factory where cold plates are produced; and the company's Higashiura factory where stainless steel structural and electromagnetic products are manufactured.

This will lead to a total annual reduction of around 10,000 tonnes (t) of CO2 emissions. At the same time, the company will promote the introduction of solar power generation systems and the decarbonisation of energy in use.

Aichi Steel is working to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and has positioned its four plants in Kariya, Seki, Gifu and Higashiura as model plants. Of these, Kariya and Gifu have introduced 'carbon neutral city gas' since last year.

With the introduction of renewable energy electricity this time (the FIT system promises to purchase electricity generated by renewable energy such as solar power, wind power, hydraulic power, geothermal power, and biomass at a fixed price for a certain period of time), the Kariya Plant will be able to purchase it.

The plan is to promote the "fuel conversion from heavy oil to city gas," which has been carried out in the past, and to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of FY'22.

The three factories in Seki, Gifu, and Higashiura will be carbon-neutral with the introduction of renewable electricity. The Seki plant plans to install a solar power generation system in FY'23.

In addition to the use of carbon-neutral energy, the company will promote a carbon-free society by improving energy efficiency and reducing energy use through energy-saving activities, developing innovative heating technology using hydrogen and ammonia, solar power generation, and using new sources of power to make the company's vehicles carbon-free.

Note: This insight has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelMint and Japan Metal Daily.