This solar-powered steel mill in the Mojave Desert is a glimpse of the future

The Mojave Micro Mill just broke ground in the Mojave Desert about 85 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It’ll be the first steel mill to open in California in more than half a century when it begins production in two years.

More notable, it’ll do so using local sun and wind power, making it the first self-powered, net-zero steel mill in the country. 

Mojave Micro will make rebar—the thin rods of steel used to reinforce concrete walls and floors—out of recycled scrap steel using a net-zero manufacturing process. Eric Benson, CEO of Pacific Steel Group, which will operate the plant, said the company had started to strategize about a new facility a few years ago. Since power remains one of the most expensive inputs in the steelmaking process, he wondered whether a mill could be placed right next to one of these solar farms.

Due to its remote location in the high desert, where there’s plenty of land, the 174-acre Mojave Micro site will include 63 acres of dedicated solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines that will be able to meet the power needs of the plant. The plant is hooked up to the grid in case it needs backup power, but will also install a carbon capture system for times when it runs on grid power, which Pacific Steel says will net out carbon emissions. Benson estimates the plant will be able to run all of its electric arc furnaces on its own power 85% of the time. The company predicts that when it’s fully operational in early 2027, the mill will have the ability to produce 450,000 tons of rebar per year.