Niedax – Niedax Group und thyssenkrupp Steel expand strategic partnership to include CO2-reduced steel

EMR Analysis

More information on Niedax Group: https://www.niedax-group.com/en/ + Niedax has been synonymous with modern electrical systems for over 100 years. Decades of experience and pioneering innovation have created the international NIEDAX GROUP. Based in Linz am Rhein, Germany, the Group currently employs a workforce of around 2450 across the globe. Niedax, Kleinhuis, Fintech, Rico, Ebo, Niedax France, Gouda Holland, ACS, Femi-CZ, For M.A., SteelLine, BVS, Excel Electrics and MOPA: these are the brands that form the NIEDAX GROUP, a strong group of companies that is now a global leader in the design and manufacture of cable support systems. A portfolio of over 50,000 products covers all your cable management systems in projects including industrial plants, office complexes, power plants and sports arenas.

Continuity defines both the company history of the NIEDAX GROUP and its management structure. Bruno Reufels has headed the group as Chairman of the Board of Management and Global Head of Sales for more than 25 years, with great success. Mr. Alexander Horn, grandson of the founding father Fritz Axthelm, is responsible in his function as managing director for the technology and development division. Together, Mr. Bruno Reufels and Mr. Alexander Horn form the dual leadership of the NIEDAX GROUP.

More information on Bruno Reufels (Chairman of the Management Board & Chief Executive Officer, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Alexander Horn (Managing Director, Technology, Research & Development + Member of the Executive Board, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Adrian Lowiner (Managing Director, International Sales and Project Management, Niedax Group + Member of the Executive Board, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Marina Reufels (Managing Director International Marketing & Digitalization + Member of the Executive Board, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Philipp Stiehl (Managing Director, Distribution Business, Niedax Group Outside Germany + Member of the Executive Board, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Cornelius Steele (Managing Director, Commercial + Niedax Group’s North American and African Companies and Head of the Global Team + Member of the Executive Board, Niedax Group): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on thyssenkrupp: https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/home + thyssenkrupp is an international industrial and technology company employing around 100,000 people. Across 48 countries it generated sales of €38 billion in fiscal 2022/2023. Since October 1, 2023, the business activities have been bundled into five segments: Automotive Technology, Decarbon Technologies, Materials Services, Steel Europe and Marine Systems. Backed by extensive technological know-how, the businesses develop cost-effective and resource-friendly solutions to the challenges of the future. Around 4,000 employees work in research and development at 75 locations all over the world, mainly in the fields of climate protection, the energy transition, digital transformation in the industry and mobility of the future. thyssenkrupp currently has a portfolio of approximately 14,630 patents and utility models. Under the thyssenkrupp umbrella brand the company creates long-term value with innovative products, technologies and services and contributes to a better life for future generations. To this end, the company pursues ambitious climate protection targets and optimizes its own energy and climate efficiency. At the same time, it uses its diverse abilities along the relevant value chains to play a significant role in driving forward its customers’ green transformation. thyssenkrupp is listed in the MDAX index. thyssenkrupp shares are traded on Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol: TKA) and as American depositary receipts (symbol: TKAMY) in the USA.

More information on Miguel Ángel López Borrego (Chief Executive Officer, thyssenkrupp): https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/management/executive-board + https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-angel-lopez-borrego/ 

More information on thyssenkrupp Steel: https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/ + thyssenkrupp Steel is one of the leading suppliers of high-grade flat steel and stands for innovations in steel and high-quality products for demanding applications. Steel has a good 26,000 employees and produces about 11 million tonnes of crude steel per year – making it Germany’s largest flat steel manufacturer. Its capabilities range from custom material solutions to material-related services.

Steel production at thyssenkrupp is planned to be carbon-neutral by 2045. As an initial target for 2030, thyssenkrupp Steel is aiming to reduce emissions from its own production and processes and from the purchase of energy by more than 30 percent versus the base year 2018.

• Net Sales 202½022: € 13,256M at +47%
• Employees: 26,304

More information on Bernhard Osburg (Chief Executive Officer, thyssenkrupp Steel, thyssenkrupp): https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/company/executive-board/executive-board-members.html + https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernhard-osburg/?locale=en_US 

More information on Dr. Heike Denecke-Arnold (Chief Operations Officer, thyssenkrupp Steel, thyssenkrupp): https://www.thyssenkrupp-steel.com/en/company/executive-board/dr-heike-denecke-arnold/dr-heike-denecke-arnold.html + https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-heike-denecke-arnold/ 

More information on TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein): https://www.tuv.com/world/en/ + TÜV are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages. The TÜV companies are organized into three large holding companies, TÜV Nord, TÜV Rheinland and TÜV SÜD (with TÜV Hessen), along with the smaller independent companies TÜV Thüringen, TÜV Saarland and TÜV Austria.

• TÜV Nord: https://www.tuev-nord-group.com/en/home/ + As a knowledge company, we have our sights firmly set on the digital future. Whether engineers, IT security experts or specialists for the mobility of the future: We ensure that our customers become even more successful in the networked world worldwide.
  • More information on Dr. Dirk Stenkamp (Chairman of the Board of Management, TÜV Nord, TÜV): https://www.tuev-nord-group.com/en/company/annual-reports-facts-and-figures/annual-report-2021/the-group-executive-committee/
• TÜV Rheinland: https://www.tuv.com/world/en/ + TÜV Rheinland stands for safety and quality in virtually all areas of business and life. Founded almost 150 years ago, the company is one of the world’s leading testing service providers with more than 20,600 employees and annual revenues of around 2 billion euros. TÜV Rheinland’s highly qualified experts test technical systems and products around the world, support innovations in technology and business, train people in numerous professions and certify management systems according to international standards. In doing so, the independent experts generate trust in products as well as processes across global value-adding chains and the flow of commodities. Since 2006, TÜV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption.
  • More information on Dr.-Ing. Michael Fübi (Chairman of the Board of Management, TÜV Rheinland, TÜV): https://www.tuv.com/world/en/about-us/organisation-and-bodies/profiles/michael-f%C3%BCbi.html +
• TÜV SÜD: https://www.tuvsud.com/de-ch + Digital transformation is already revolutionizing every aspect of our everyday lives. It is changing the way we live, work and spend our free time. In this time of change, TÜV SÜD is committed to creating value for governments, businesses and consumers worldwide. Our goal is to inspire trust in technologies and enable progress by managing technical risks and facilitating change. This commitment is reflected in our new claim “More value. More trust.”
  • More information on Dr. Johannes Bussmann (Chairman of the Board of Management, TÜV SÜD, TÜV): https://www.tuvsud.com/de-ch/ueber-uns/leadership

EMR Additional Notes:

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
  • Primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and other biological materials, and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
• Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
  • Carbon Dioxide released as a result of the combustion or decomposition of organic material, that is biomass and its derivatives. Examples include carbon dioxide released during the combustion of wood and biogas generated by decomposition.
  • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are the same. Scientists differentiate between biogenic carbon (that which is absorbed, stored and emitted by organic matter like soil, trees, plants and grasses) and non-biogenic carbon (that found in all other sources, most notably in fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas).
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS):
  • CCS involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes, such as steel and cement production, or from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation. This carbon is then transported from where it was produced, via ship or in a pipeline, and stored deep underground in geological formations.
  • CCS projects typically target 90 percent efficiency, meaning that 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from the power plant will be captured and stored.
• Decarbonization:
  • Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources, achieving a lower output of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
• Carbon Footprint:
  • There is no universally agreed definition of what a carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is generally understood to be the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are directly or indirectly caused by an individual, organization, product, or service. These emissions are typically measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
  • In 2009, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) published a standard for calculating and reporting corporate carbon footprints. This standard is widely accepted by businesses and other organizations around the world. The GHG Protocol defines a carbon footprint as “the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, directly and indirectly, through its own operations and the value chain.”

• Global Warming: Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.
• Global Warming Potential (GWP): 
  • The heat absorbed by any greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, as a multiple of the heat that would be absorbed by the same mass of carbon dioxide (CO2). GWP is 1 for CO2. For other gases it depends on the gas and the time frame.
  • Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e or CO2eq or CO2-e) is calculated from GWP. For any gas, it is the mass of CO2 which would warm the earth as much as the mass of that gas. Thus it provides a common scale for measuring the climate effects of different gases. It is calculated as GWP times mass of the other gas. For example, if a gas has GWP of 100, two tonnes of the gas have CO2e of 200 tonnes.
  • GWP was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of different gases.
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG):
  • A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.
  • The main gases responsible for the greenhouse effect include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor (which all occur naturally), and fluorinated gases (which are synthetic).

• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC):
  • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are a group of industrial chemicals primarily used for cooling and refrigeration. HFCs were developed to replace stratospheric ozone-depleting substances that are currently being phased out under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
  • Many HFCs are very powerful greenhouse gases and a substantial number are short-lived climate pollutants with a lifetime of between 15 and 29 years in the atmosphere.
• GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Scope 1, 2 and 3: https://ghgprotocol.org/ + The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a corporate-level GHG emissions inventory. Scope 1 and 2 are mandatory to report, whereas scope 3 is voluntary and the hardest to monitor.
  • Scope 1: Direct emissions:
    • Direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources. In other words, emissions are released into the atmosphere as a direct result of a set of activities, at a firm level. It is divided into four categories:
      • Stationary combustion (e.g fuels, heating sources). All fuels that produce GHG emissions must be included in scope 1.
      • Mobile combustion is all vehicles owned or controlled by a firm, burning fuel (e.g. cars, vans, trucks). The increasing use of “electric” vehicles (EVs), means that some of the organisation fleets could fall into Scope 2 emissions.
      • Fugitive emissions are leaks from greenhouse gases (e.g. refrigeration, air conditioning units). It is important to note that refrigerant gases are a thousand times more dangerous than CO2 emissions. Companies are encouraged to report these emissions.
      • Process emissions are released during industrial processes, and on-site manufacturing (e.g. production of CO2 during cement manufacturing, factory fumes, chemicals).
  • Scope 2: Indirect emissions – owned:
    • Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, from a utility provider. In other words, all GHG emissions released in the atmosphere, from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling. For most organisations, electricity will be the unique source of scope 2 emissions. Simply stated, the energy consumed falls into two scopes: Scope 2 covers the electricity consumed by the end-user. Scope 3 covers the energy used by the utilities during transmission and distribution (T&D losses).
  • Scope 3: Indirect emissions – not owned:
    • Indirect emissions – not included in scope 2 – that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions. In other words, emissions are linked to the company’s operations. According to GHG protocol, scope 3 emissions are separated into 15 categories.

• Galvanizing:
  • Process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are coated by submerging them in a bath of hot, molten zinc.

• Green Steel:
  • Essentially, green steel is the manufacturing of steel without the use of fossil fuels.
  • ‘Green steel’, or the steel produced through processes that do not emit carbon dioxide, essentially means using hydrogen as the ‘reducing agent’ (remover of oxygen) in steel production.
  • Steel manufacturing produces more CO2 than any other heavy industry, comprising around 8% of total global emissions.
  • Efforts are under way to move steel production away from coal-fired furnaces to ones powered by electricity or hydrogen.
  • But producing green steel is an expensive process – and the industry needs to scale up rapidly to hit net-zero targets.
  • So-called “green hydrogen” is one solution that could help reduce the steel industry’s carbon footprint.