GFG Alliance mark major milestone in transition away from coal with closure of coke ovens

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Peter Malinauskas have visited Whyalla to mark a major milestone in GFG Alliance’s phase-out of coal-based steelmaking.

GFG Alliance has marked a major milestone in the phase out of coal-based steelmaking at Whyalla.

The coke ovens at the plant, operational for more than 55 years, have been switched off to make way for a new electric arc furnace.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Peter Malinauskas visited the steelworks on Monday to mark the occasion.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. NCA NewsWire/David Mariuz

Together with workers, they unveiled a plaque during a special ceremony that was attended by coke ovens workers.

Mr Albanese said the “the closing of this chapter is not the end of the story”.

“It’s the opening of a new chapter that will be brighter, more prosperous,” he said.

Mr Malinauskas said green steel was an opportunity to change the contribution that Whyalla makes to the rest of the country.

He said green hydrogen presented “South Australia’s time in the sun”.

“This is a unique moment in time and I invite other South Australians in the room to think about hit this way: the history of our federation has been defined by which state has the resources that the rest of the world wants and needs at that time,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tours the Whyalla steelworks.. NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Anthony Albanese and Premier Peter Malinauskas during a visit to the Whyalla steelworks. NCA NewsWire/David Mariuz

“For the rest of this century, particularly the second half of this century, it’s going to be who has the products and the fuels of the future that are not carbon intensive. And that’s what we have here in South Australia.”

GFG executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta, who addressed the ceremony in a video, said the carbon that has helped build the past has been “slowly and quietly suffocating our planet”.

“So, now it’s time to rethink and re-engineer how the steel we make can continue to build our world going forward,” he said.

“A world where demand is predicted to double to some 4bn tonnes annually in the next 3-4 decades.”

Albo during a tour of the Whyalla steelworks. NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

He said there was no better place than Whyalla to transition to green steel – and “soon, with the help of hydrogen, to no-carbon production”.

GFG interim chief executive Primary Steel and Mining Theuns Victor paid tribute to the team of workers that operates the coke ovens, who he said worked in temperatures reaching about 50C on hot summer days.

“This is a team that operates like a family – supporting each other and grinding out the results,” he said.

Mr Victor said today was a celebration of both the past and the future.

“Let’s celebrate the enormous contribute that this facility and the people operating it has made in our lives for over half a century,” he said.

“We celebrate the transition from carbon as the main source of fuel to hydrogen.”