NLMK Group utilizes secondary resources — steelmaking by-product gases — to reduce its fossil fuel consumption, cutting its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 million tonnes of ÑÎ2.

NLMK uses blast furnace and coke off-gases to generate energy to support production, and as a direct energy carrier for the main process equipment. At NLMK Lipetsk, NLMK Group’s flagship site, such electric energy covers 65% of the site’s needs (the goal is to ensure 100% coverage by 2023). Among other factors, the energy value of off-gases is determined by their pure hydrogen content, from 7% in blast furnace gas to 60% in coke gas.

Sergey Chebotarev, NLMK Group’s Vice President for Energy and the Environment, said: "NLMK Group consumes a total of 23 billion m3 of blast furnace and coke gases annually. In energy equivalent, this volume would be sufficient to replace all the natural gas consumed by a country like Serbia. This amount of secondary gas contains 3 billion m3 of hydrogen. By using it, we cut down on carbon-containing fossil fuels, which brings us much closer to our climate footprint reduction targets."

In 2020 NLMK Group reduced its level of ÑÎ2 emissions per tonne of pig iron and steel to 1.90 t (by 4% vs. 2016). The Company is targeting a further reduction to 1.84 t (by an additional 3%) by 2023.

Among other projects aimed at achieving this goal, NLMK Lipetsk is currently proceeding with the construction of a new recovery cogeneration plant operating on off-gases from steelmaking. The project is based on advanced solutions for using energy by-products. For instance, a system for collecting and recovering secondary steelmaking gases, unique for the Russian steel industry, will be installed together with the power plant. The plant will enable increasing the share of captive generation from 65% to 95% in the site’s energy consumption balance, and reducing its carbon oxide (CO) emissions by 3,000 tonnes per year and its greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by 650,000 tonnes per year. Once the new power plant is launched, the volume of by-product steelmaking gases at NLMK Lipetsk used as fuel will be equivalent to the replacement of 6 million tonnes of coal per year.

About NLMK Group

NLMK Group is the largest steelmaker in Russia and one of the most efficient in the world.

NLMK Group’s steel products are used in various industries, from construction and machine building to the manufacturing of power-generation equipment and offshore wind turbines.

NLMK operates production facilities in Russia, Europe and the United States. The Company’s steel production capacity exceeds 17 million tonnes per year.

NLMK has a highly competitive cash cost among global manufacturers and one of the highest profitability levels in the industry. The Company has investment grade credit ratings from S&P, Moody’s, Fitch, and Expert RA.

NLMK’s ordinary shares with a 20.7% free-float are traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK") and its global depositary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK:LI"). The share capital of the Company is divided into 5,993,227,240 shares with a par value of RUB1. For more details on NLMK shareholder capital, please follow the link.

For more details on NLMK Group, please visit our website.

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