Arkansas Steel Associates' Activities to Achieve Zero Scope 2 Emissions upon Electric Furnaces

Arkansas Steel Associates LLC ("ASA"), an associated company in which Sumitomo Corporation invests together with Yamato Kogyo, has signed an agreement with Entergy Arkansas ("Entergy"), an electric power company, under which 100% of the electricity ASA uses will be carbon-free electricity*.

(*) Stands for electricity produced from energy resources that do not emit GHG.
Of these, electricity derived from renewable energy sources such as solar power, hydro, etc. is called green energy, and electricity derived from nuclear power and other sources is called clean energy.

In this Agreement, ASA will use Entergy's newly launched Go ZERO (Zero Emissions Resource Options) service (the "Service"). This service matches Entergy's carbon-free electricity with consumers' electricity demand. This service will enable ASA to make its electricity consumption 100% carbon-free, including clean energy, which is already the core of ASA's electricity consumption, and green energy, which will be added in the future.

ASA manufactures and sells railway track components from an electric furnace in Arkansas, U.S. With this agreement, ASA will become one of the first electric furnace mills in the U.S. to convert 100% of its electricity consumption into carbon-free and achieve zero Scope 2 emissions.

ASA's major customers, Class 1 railroad companies, have also announced their GHG emission targets for 2030. As well as reductions of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission, they have also set Scope 3 emission reductions as one of their long-term goals under the announcements. The steel industry has attracted attention as one of the industries with significant room for reducing GHG emissions, and through this initiative, ASA will contribute to the reduction of Scope 3 emissions at customers side and accelerate efforts to realize a carbon-neutral society.

【Arkansas Steel Associates, LLC】

Announcement of Entergy (February 1st): Arkansas Steel Associates Go ZERO for Green and Clean Energy in 2024 (entergynewsroom.com)

ASA headquarter in Arkansas, U.S.