Voestalpine Completes Electric Arc Furnace Installation at Donawitz, Cold Commissioning Begins
Austrian steel group voestalpine said installation of the new electric arc furnace at its Donawitz site has been largely completed on schedule, and that cold commissioning has begun in some areas, with conveyor systems, hydraulic systems, electrical installations, cooling circuits and automation systems being tested.
The furnace consists of core components such as a lower and upper vessel and a rocker, together with associated infrastructure and utility systems. The nearly 900,000 individual components delivered weigh a total of around 8,500 tons and were transported to the site by ship, train and truck. More than 70 companies are working on the project, some 90% of them Austrian, with around 500 skilled workers currently active on the site; lead partner Danieli is coordinating installation of the furnace's core components and its first operation.
The furnace forms part of voestalpine's greentec steel program, which the company describes as Austria's largest climate protection program. Chief Executive Herbert Eibensteiner said the program in Linz and Donawitz is right on schedule in terms of both time and budget. Major construction and installation work will be completed in 2026; once fully operational, the Donawitz furnace will be able to produce around 850,000 tons of CO2-reduced steel annually. The first melts in the new electric arc furnaces in Donawitz and Linz are planned for the first half of 2027.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：奥钢联莱奥本-多纳维茨钢厂全景，右侧灰色厂房为在建的电弧炉厂房（2026年摄）。摄影：Aciarium，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权，来源：Wikimedia Commons
