Today, the European Commission gave its approval under State aid law for the funding of the decarbonisation of the ArcelorMittal steel production in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) can now promote the project by investing around €1.3 billion. The federal state of Bremen will contribute around €250 million. The ArcelorMittal project is to implement carbon savings of over 70 million tonnes in the period until 2041.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said: I am particularly pleased as it helps us to create industrial flagship projects in northern and eastern Germany. This is a great impetus for economic development and the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in these regions. I would like to thank the European Commission for enabling us to complete this fourth big procedure for the German steel sector. We will prepare the funding notice immediately.

The "DRIBE2" project of ArcelorMittal Bremen GmbH consists of several subprojects. The construction of a direct reduction facility (DRI) in Bremen was decided within the IPCEI on hydrogen (Important Projects of Common European Interest – H2). The facility is to supply three electric air furnaces (EAFs) - one in Bremen and two in Eisenhüttenstadt - with directly reduced iron. An application for funding of the EAFs was made under the "Industry Decarbonisation" funding programme. The European Commission approved DRIBE2 as an independent project. The award of national funding notices is being prepared.

The new installations are to be operational in 2026. The use of hydrogen will continue to increase, and it is to be expected that over 135,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen will be used per year eventually. It will be used to produce over 3.8 million tonnes of green steel. DRIBE2 will provide for up to 5.8 million tonnes of carbon savings per year, which corresponds to more than 10% of emissions from the entire steel sector in Germany at the time of project completion. The steel sector accounts for approximately one third of Germany’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal Minister Habeck visited ArcelorMittal in Bremen on 5 February 2024 and participated in a works meeting. He spoke about the importance of the funding project for the around 6,000 employees and the importance of a timely implementation of the project for the economic future of the areas hosting the two production facilities.

DRIBE2 is the fourth-largest funding project for the decarbonisation of a steel production facility in Germany that was chosen for the IPCEI on hydrogen. In 2023 Salzgitter AG, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and SHS (Stahl-Holding Saar) had already received funding.

Further transformation steps of the steel industry can be supported via the Industry and Climate Action federal funding programme (BIK) and the carbon contracts for difference that will be introduced in the coming weeks. SMEs are to be the primary beneficiaries of the Industry and Climate Action federal funding programme.