The conglomerate Thyssenkrupp is reorganizing itself and establishing its own division for climate-friendly technologies. The chairman of the board, Miguel López, will lead this area called “Decarbon Technologies” himself, the Essen-based MDax company announced on Thursday. Four subsidiaries that previously belonged to other business areas will end up in this division. Firstly, the company Thyssenkrupp Rothe Erde, which builds large slewing bearings for wind turbines. Then the listed subsidiary Nucera, a manufacturer of electrolysers for the production of climate-friendly hydrogen.
Thirdly, the Uhde company, which manufactures systems that convert hydrogen into ammonia so that the energy source can be transported more easily by ship. And fourthly, the Polysius company, which is setting up cement factories. A lot of carbon dioxide is released during cement production, and Polysius offers processes to capture the climate-damaging gas. In total, the four companies have 15,000 employees and a turnover of three billion euros.
Thyssenkrupp boss López says the bundling will help “unlock the great potential” of these green businesses. The German-Spanish, who has led the group since June, presented the concept to the supervisory board on Wednesday evening. The former Siemens manager also presented the basic principles of a so-called “performance program” with which Thyssenkrupp wants to become more profitable by 2025. In the new green division, López sees a need to catch up, especially at Uhde and Polysius.
In addition to the “Decarbon Technologies” division, the group will also have an automotive supply division, a materials trading division, a steel division and the shipyard subsidiary Marine Systems, which builds submarines. However, López is looking for buyers or investors for the steel sector and shipyards. In total, Thyssenkrupp employs 96,000 people.
Employee representatives welcome the new order. “We fully support the establishment of the new Decarbon segment because it shows the way into the future,” says Jürgen Kerner, board member of IG Metall and deputy chairman of the supervisory board at Thyssenkrupp. Kerner, however, is critical of the performance program: “We reject short-term measures such as foregoing necessary investments and reducing the number of employees.” López must make it clear that this is not planned.