Blast Furnace 5 again blown in

The successful relining of Blast Furnace 5 will ensure supply to our customers for the next few years with the highest-quality steel grades. Following this final campaign, it will be replaced in 2027 by the first electric-arc furnace to be put into operation in Linz.

Blast Furnace 5 was comprehensively rebuilt in a record time of 80 days and put back into service on schedule on 23 October. In addition to replacement of the refractory lining, the major project involved modernization of auxiliary systems such as the blast preheater, conveyor belt burdening system, the central blower station and the gas cleaning systems. The general refurbishment has been planned since 2020 and was achieved with the help of some 60 suppliers and up to 250 workers per day. 

Final furnace campaign

The Steel Division currently operates three blast furnaces in Linz. Of the total hot metal produced at the site, the large Blast Furnace A accounts for two thirds, and one third is produced by the two small blast furnaces 5 and 6. Since the most recent relining of Blast Furnace 5 in 2015, it has produced more than 6 million tons of hot metal. The latest major relining officially marked the beginning of its final furnace campaign (time in operation). As part of the ambitious greentec steel project for the decarbonization of steel production, the furnace will be replaced in 2027 by the first electric-arc furnace in Linz. Construction of the new electric-arc furnace (EAF) will commence in 2024, and three years later it will be put into operation. When in full operation, it will produce 1.6 million tons a year of steel with reduced carbon emissions. 

Our path to a green future

greentec steel is the largest climate protection program in Austria. In the first step of level-by-level planning, an electric-arc furnace will be installed at each of the voestalpine locations in Linz and Donawitz. The future integration of the two electric-arc furnaces into steel production will enable energy-intensive processes to be powered by renewable energy and will save around 30% of the carbon emissions by the year 2027. This corresponds to a savings of nearly 4 million tons of CO₂ or 5% of the Austrian domestic emissions per year. Beginning in 2030, two additional blast furnaces will be replaced in Linz and Donawitz and an investment made in an additional electric arc furnace in Linz. In order to achieve the net zero target by 2050, the voestalpine Group is researching new processes and investing in additional pilot projects in steelmaking.