Nucor Unveils New Sustainable Steel Product for America’s Offshore Wind Market

Nucor has introduced Elcyon, the company’s new sustainable heavy gauge steel plate product made specifically to meet the growing demands of America’s offshore wind energy producers.

Nucor will manufacture Elcyon at the firm’s new USD 1.7 billion Nucor Bradenburg steel mill in Kentucky, which produced its first steel plate at the end of December 2022.

The new mill will be able to produce 97 per cent of plate products consumed domestically, with a potential output of 1.2 million of steel annually, said Nucor.

Elcyon is made using Nucor’s recycled scrap-based electric arc furnace manufacturing process. The company’s circular steelmaking route has a greenhouse emissions intensity that is one-fifth the global blast furnace extractive steelmaking average, based on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, according to Nucor.

To make the new sustainable heavy gauge steel plate product, the firm utilises Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Processing (TMCP) at the new mill.

Along with meeting Eurnorm specs, Elcyon is characterised by larger plate dimensions, improved weldability, and excellent fracture toughness, said Nucor, as compared to competing products.

Nucor expects to offer Elcyon in a wide range of plate grades and sizes, working closely with end users to meet their needs and specifications.

“As demand for alternative energy sources like offshore wind continues to grow and manufacturers push for larger turbines, Elcyon’s larger and thicker plate sizes will help the United States become a leader in offshore wind production”, said Leon Topalian, Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation.

The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included approximately USD 300 billion for clean energy development and climate programmes, supports the Biden Administration’s goal to build 30 GW of offshore wind power by 2030.

This could result in about 7.5 million tonnes of additional steel demand and create enough clean energy to power 10 million homes.

“By launching Elcyon at Brandenburg we have effectively created the first domestic supply chain of sustainable steel for our nation’s offshore wind energy industry”, said Topalian.

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