SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar Group (SHS Group), along with its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl, has secured €1.7 billion in financing to advance its landmark Power4Steel transformation project, one of Europe’s largest green steel decarbonization initiatives.
The financing package, backed by a consortium of major national and international banks, combines corporate and investment funding. It is supported by export credit agencies OeKB (Austria) and SACE (Italy), as well as direct funding from the German federal government and Saarland, as part of a €2.6 billion regional transformation program for the steel industry.
“This is another key milestone on our path to a CO₂-reduced future,” said Stefan Rauber, Managing Director of SHS and Chairman of the Board of Saarstahl and Dillinger. “With financing secured, green hydrogen supplies arranged, and government backing confirmed, Power4Steel is now set to redefine climate-neutral steelmaking in Germany.”
The project’s financing structure involved ING as documentation agent, UniCredit as ECA coordinator, and Deutsche Bank as co-ECA coordinator and facility agent. Advisory support was provided by Lazard, Hogan Lovells, Freshfields, and Rothschild & Co.
Markus Lauer, SHS Managing Director and Executive Board Member for Finance and Procurement, emphasized that the project reflects “the strong collaboration between industry, finance, and government to advance climate-neutral steel production — a key pillar of the energy transition.”
As part of Power4Steel, SHS will construct a direct reduction plant and two electric arc furnaces at its Dillingen and Völklingen sites. These facilities will gradually replace existing blast furnaces, enabling hydrogen-based steelmaking that will cut CO₂ emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieve carbon-neutral production by 2045.
In the long term, SHS aims to become Europe’s leading producer of green steel, strengthening Saarland’s position as a hub for sustainable industrial transformation.