Mojave Micro Mill Is First US Solar-Powered Steel Mill

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Pacific Steel Group has begun construction of what it calls its Mojave Micro Mill. Located in the Mojave Desert section of California, southeast of Bakersfield and near Edwards Air Force Base, the factory will produce rebar — the metal framework that makes modern cement structures possible — using electricity supplied by a solar panels and wind turbines located nearby. By using hybrid mill technology and a renewable energy portfolio in a unique Micro Mill configuration, the Mojave Micro Mill is set to be one of the cleanest steel mills in the world, the company says.

The solar-powered steel mill will use state of the art steel manufacturing technology to manufacture its rebar products. Not only will this create the highest quality products in a more sustainable fashion, it will also drastically reduce the environmental impact of the mill. When it reaches full capacity in 2027, the Mojave Micro Mill will have an annual capacity of 450,000 tons of rebar steel. The good news here is that the process used will eliminate about 370,000 tons of greenhouse gases. To put that in perspective, that is equivalent to the emissions of approximately 75,000 automobiles or 783,000 barrels of oil.

That’s not all. The Mojave Micro Mill will bring many new jobs to the area and will recycle nearly half a million tons of scrap metal sourced from within California each year. Currently that scrap steel is shipped out of state, which creates even more carbon emissions. The new facility is not meant to be a public relations project. Pacific Steel would not be doing this if it did not make economic sense.

Mojave Micro Mill Was Years In The Making

Eric Benson, CEO of Pacific Steel Group, told Fast Company recently the company started thinking about a new facility a few years ago. Since electrical power remains one of the most expensive inputs in the steel making process, Benson and his team wondered whether a steel mill could be placed adjacent to solar farms. Because of its remote location in the high desert with an abundance of open land nearby, the 174 acre Mojave Micro site will include 63 acres of dedicated solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines to supply the factory with the electricity it needs to operate. Not only that, the company will not be subject to price increases for electricity the way it would be if it relied solely on energy from the utility grid.

There will be a connection to the local utility grid, but Pacific Steel has thought about that as well and installed a carbon capture system for times when it runs on grid power to offset the carbon emissions associated with electricity from thermal generation. Benson estimates the plant will be able to run all of its electric arc furnaces on its own power 85 percent of the time.

“This is a very exciting day for our company. It represents a culmination of nearly five years of work and is the first tangible step toward full vertical integration of our reinforcing steel operations,” Benson said in a company statement about the event, reported by the Antelope Valley Press. “I could not be more proud of the team that we have assembled. Their collective efforts in achieving this milestone is truly an extraordinary accomplishment.”

Green Business Is Good Business

The financial sector may be backing away from sustainability as fast as possible to avoid being targeted by the current US administration, but Pacific Steel is including the most far reaching technology available to make its new rebar mill as green as possible. With respect to emissions into the atmosphere, it will employ a number of strategies to reduce those emissions to a minimum, including:

• Fully enclosed Meltshop
• NOx control with selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR)
• Two baghouses in series
• Wet scrubber
• Activated carbon injection
• Carbon capture system with liquefaction
• Heat recovery/exchangers.

The attention to such details won praise from Liane Randolph, the chair of the California Air Resources Board. “Pacific Steel Group’s Mojave Micro Mill highlights the California way to green manufacturing. This project is setting the standard for the steel industry by utilizing on-site renewable energy to produce green rebar with a significantly lower carbon footprint,” she said.
“It’s a shining example of how California continues to lead the nation in driving sustainable innovation, and we are proud to see this groundbreaking project take place right here in our state.”

The state of California also put its shoulder to the wheel to make this project a reality. The project received a $30 million California Competes tax credit last year from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), which was critical to the groundbreaking and has helped Pacific Steel hire employees and invest in manufacturing equipment. In exchange for this tax credit, the company committed to more than $540 million in capital investments and nearly 450 new jobs in the mill’s first 5 years of operation. Pacific Steel is also collaborating with California State University, Bakersfield, the Kern Community College District, and Antelope Valley Community College to establish pathways to employment, including a certificate program to equip students for steel manufacturing careers.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement, “Projects like the Mojave Micro Mill show how we can grow our regional economies while simultaneously taking action on climate and improving public health — all key pillars of California Jobs First. In California, we are doubling down on innovative technologies to create jobs and ensure our roads, bridges and hospitals are built with cleaner materials made right here in California.” The Golden State now has seven times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs and continues to be home to the most clean energy jobs in the nation. With more than half a million clean energy jobs in the state — twice as many as Texas — it is doubling down on efforts to create even more climate-forward jobs.

There are several possible takeaways from this news. First and foremost, green business practices are good for business. Pacific Steel isn’t doing this as part of some “green new scam,” it is doing this because it makes good economic sense. Second, if a steel mill can run on renewable energy most of the time, data centers and green hydrogen operations can do so as well. There are many signals for the business community that result from the Mojave Micro Mill project that show sustainability and business are not enemies but rather vital partners in creating a sustainable world.

A hat tip to Dan Allard.