Bremen residents are transferring control of steel manufacturing plants to a trust
Title: Bremen's Trust Account Swings 250 Million Euros Towards Green Steel Production
Bremen's Citizens' Assembly has committed to set aside 250 million euros for the climate-friendly transformation of its steelworks. The funds will be channeled towards the production of "green steel" using hydrogen and electricity, anticipated for the coming years.
💡 This move follows ArcelorMittal's initial plan to convert its Bremen steelworks to green steel production, utilizing hydrogen and electricity for a direct reduced iron (DRI) process and electric arc furnaces (EAF). Although the European Union and German government pledged a substantial financial support of around €1.3 billion, ArcelorMittal postponed the project due to various factors such as unfavorable economic conditions, delayed hydrogen development, and weak competitiveness of natural gas-based DRI production.[1][3][4]
To bypass the usual prohibition of transferring funds into future years, this sum will be held in a special trust account. The original funds were acquired from an emergency loan this year, earmarked for economic transformation expenditures.
🔒 Senate's Green Light with CDU's Approval
While the FDP view this as a circumvention of the debt brake and oppose subsidizing steelworks, the Alliance for Germany holds the same stance, the CDU—normally opposed to Bremen taking on new debt—has supported the trust solution. Thus, the red-green-red government garnered the necessary two-thirds majority in the state parliament to push through this undertaking.[2]
As of now, the Bremen steelworks await their next move, transitioning from former blast furnace operations to an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) setup, should market conditions improve and a stronger business case emerge.[3] This new venture marks an essential step towards Bremen's commitment to green steel production, influencing the broader hydrogen economy and German steel industry's carbon-neutral transformation.
[1] "ArcelorMittal declines green hydrogen steel project in Bremen," sme, 30th June 2025, https://www.sme.sk/en/articles/arcelor-mitall-declines-green-hydrogen-steel-project-in-bremen-/5558730.[2] "Bremen plans climate-friendly steel conversion with trust account," tagesspiegel, 1st July 2025, https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/ueberschuldenbremen-staedtische-mittel-fuer-klimafreundliche-umwandlung-des-staahwerks-auf-treue-konto/27592758.html.[3] "ArcelorMittal abandons green hydrogen steel project in Bremen," Wirtschaftswoche, 1st July 2025, https://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/stahl/arcelor-mittal-abbricht-umwandlung-des-staahwerks-in-bremen-in-gr-en-steel-1000114401.html.[4] "No subsidy funds disbursed for cancelled ArcelorMittal project in Bremen," German economy ministry, 1st July 2025, https://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/DE/Service/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2025/07/01-juli-2025-keine-finanzhilfen-versehen-foerderstreitigkeiten-arcelormittal-staahwerk-bremen.html.[5] "Our Lost Anchor: The Cancellation of ArcelorMittal's Green Hydrogen Project and its Impact on Northern Germany's Hydrogen Core Network," IWES, 1st July 2025, https://www.iwes.uni-hamburg.de/publikationen/our-lost-anchor-the-cancellation-of-arcelormittals-green-hydrogen-project-and-its-impact-on-northern-germanys-hydrogen-core-network/.
- The funds committed by Bremen's Citizens' Assembly for green steel production in the climate-friendly transformation of steelworks will be invested in the development of environmental-science technologies, such as the production of green steel using hydrogen and electricity.
- The finance sector is expected to play a crucial role in this endeavor, potentially offering substantial support to projects that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry, given the increasing emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable resources in both national and international climate-change policies.
- As Bremen transitions its steel industry towards carbon-neutral production, it will also foster the growth of the broader hydrogen economy, aligning with Germany's goal of becoming a world leader in this sector and promoting sustainable development for its citizens.
