The ecological transition is progressing unevenly; it always depends on which country – or continent – you look at. The problem is that the European Union has gone too far in its ambition: they want to get green steel from a developing country, which reminds us of neo-colonialism. Who can’t have a bad thought about that era?
The European Union is ambitious with the energy transition, but we did not expect this
The European Union has set ambitious climate goals to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A critical component of this plan is transitioning from traditional carbon-intensive steel production to “green steel” made with renewable hydrogen.
However, green steel production within Europe faces challenges with limited domestic access to cost-competitive renewable energy and iron ore supplies. This has led European leaders to explore opportunities to import green steel from resource-rich developing countries.
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently proposed that Mauritania could become a major exporter of green steel to Europe. With abundant solar and wind resources, iron ore deposits, and proximity to European markets, Mauritania appears well-positioned to produce low-carbon steel.
A developing country hides the secret to produce “green steel”
Mauritania is a North-westerly country of Africa having vast lumber of non-used reserves of steel production. Besides being the sizeable holder of the world’s largest high-grade iron ore reserves of about 2 billion tons, it is the largest producer of zinc in the country.
On the other hand, Mauritania at the present stage is still unable to become a producer of steel domestically neither due to deficiency in required equipment nor lack of the ability. Rather than relying on raw material exports the country produces high-gradient iron ore, which it doesn’t have the capacity for local processing.
The value is reaching 50 million tons iron ore every year according to some figures. Despite the fact that it has suitable conditions for iron ores, the Philippines could be one of the generating authorities in the steel industry with the right infrastructure and investment.
The international trade of Mauritania in its coastal area is feature-lined by convenient shipper and exporter. One of the country’s paths would be to develop steel mills and processors where it would tap into unconventional sources like wind and solar energy.
The European Union’s proposal for green steel: the agreement with Mauritania that changes everything
In February 2023, European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, paid a visit to Mauritania and pushed for a deal that would have the country providing “green steel” to the EU for its tender.
Europe within its Green Deal to the European Green Deal by hydrogen and renewable sources of energy in addition to coal to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050. The idea of Mauritanian economy was to explore opportunities in its rich iron ore reserves and cut the carbon in its steel production by the hydrogen-based direct reduced iron.
With this steel being shipped and thereby satisfied to help in the raise in European demand. She specified the deal as that win-win situation which will turn the attention of the green transition of Europe towards Mauritania while leading to the investment and employment of Mauritania.
As you can see, green steel is going to revolutionize the European Union’s energy model, in a bid to continue leading the hydrogen market. This renewable fuel has been found in France and, very recently, in Albania. However, they are now looking to Mauritania to continue extracting more.