Steelmaker reaches majority renewable electricity

Steel manufacturer InfraBuild has announced its Laverton facility in Melbourne’s west now runs mostly on renewable energy. Under a new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) activated on 1 April, the mill now contracts enough electricity from a Victorian wind farm to cover up to 50% of the power required to melt scrap metal into steel.

“This is a genuine milestone, not just for InfraBuild, but for Australian manufacturing,” said Francisco Irazusta, CEO. “Today’s announcement marks a major step on our journey to 100% renewable energy across our manufacturing sites by 2030. By increasing the amount of renewable energy powering our EAFs, there will be a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per tonne of steel that we produce.”

The Laverton mill produces over 750,000 tonnes of steel per year by recycling scrap metal through its electric arc furnace, a process that already generates around 77% lower CO₂ per tonne than traditional coal-reliant blast furnace methods, according to data by World Steel. With renewable energy now powering the majority of the furnace, InfraBuild is taking the Australian construction sector closer to net zero steel.

Matt Kean, Chair of the Australian Climate Change Authority, said the achievement was proof the energy transition was working in the real world.

“Those who have claimed over the years that renewables can’t power Australia’s heavy industry must now confront reality,” he said. “The economics of renewables have moved decisively, and the manufacturers who lock in those advantages first will be the ones who compete globally.”

The Laverton PPA follows InfraBuild’s existing 25% renewable energy agreement at its Sydney Steel Mill and Newcastle Rod Mill in New South Wales. Together, these agreements form part of a deliberate, staged pathway towards 100% renewable energy across all InfraBuild manufacturing sites by 2030.

InfraBuild is also simultaneously expanding Laverton’s production capacity towards one million tonnes per annum by 2028, demonstrating that industrial growth and decarbonisation are not in tension.

All the renewable electricity contracted under the Laverton PPA comes from wind generation. InfraBuild will also seek to secure supplies of biomethane as a cleaner replacement for natural gas in parts of the mill that cannot readily be switched to electricity.

Image credit: Infrabuild