ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® Innovation fund invests in Utility Global to progress its gas processing technology

ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® Innovation fund invests in Utility Global to progress its gas processing technology

25 September 2024, 16:00 CET

ArcelorMittal (the ‘Company’) today announces it has invested $5 million in Utility Global through its XCarb® Innovation Fund. The Fund, launched in 2021, invests in companies developing disruptive technologies that have the potential to support the decarbonisation of steelmaking. The investment is part of Utility Global’s $53 million Series C fundraising round, led by Ontario Power Generation.

Utility Global has developed a patented reactor which processes variable industrial process gases, without the use of electricity, into high-purity hydrogen and a concentrated CO₂ stream that can be captured and stored. The hydrogen produced can be recirculated into the steelmaking process to replace natural gas, while the purity of the concentrated CO₂ stream significantly simplifies and reduces the cost of subsequent carbon capture and sequestration – an important solution for decarbonising steelmaking.

In addition to the investment, ArcelorMittal has entered into a collaboration agreement to accelerate the technology for commercial adoption, by exploring opportunities to host pilot plants at ArcelorMittal facilities with an option to progress to large scale commercial facility at one of ArcelorMittal’s integrated steel plants.

Commenting, Irina Gorbounova, Head of the XCarb® Innovation fund, said:

“For hard-to-abate sectors like steel, decarbonisation technologies need to be cost effective and scalable. Utility Global’s eXERO™ technology platform has the potential to be both, which is what makes it an attractive investment for our Innovation Fund.
  
“It is a welcome addition to the broad portfolio of investments which reside in the Fund, and we look forward to working alongside Utility Global’s management team to support the commercialisation of the eXERO™ technology.”

Since its launch ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® Innovation Fund has committed to investments in eight companies covering a range of decarbonisation technologies – renewable energy, long duration energy storage, carbon capture and utilisation, green hydrogen production, nuclear energy, molten oxide electrolysis and biochar production. The Fund is also an anchor partner in Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program, having committed to investing $100 million over a five-year period.

ENDS

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s leading integrated steel and mining companies with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking operations in 15 countries. It is the largest steel producer in Europe, among the largest in the Americas, and has a growing presence in Asia, including India, through its joint venture AM/NS India.

ArcelorMittal sells its products to a diverse range of customers including the automotive, engineering, construction and machinery industries, and in 2023 generated revenues of $68.3 billion, produced 58.1 million metric tonnes of crude steel and 42.0 million tonnes of iron ore.

Our purpose is to produce smarter steels for people and planet. Steels made using innovative processes which use less energy, emit significantly less carbon and reduce costs. Steels that are cleaner, stronger and reusable. Steels for the renewable energy infrastructure that will support societies as they transform through this century. With steel at our core, our inventive people and an entrepreneurial culture at heart, we will support the world in making that change.

ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MT), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS). For more information about ArcelorMittal please visit: http://corporate.arcelormittal.com.