To produce a ton of steel in an electric arc furnace requires approximately 400 kilowatt-hours (1.44 gigajoules) per short ton or about 440 kWh (1.6 GJ) per tonne. The theoretical minimum amount of energy required to melt a tonne of scrap steel is 300 kWh (1.09 GJ) (melting point ). Therefore, a 300-tonne, 300 MVA EAF will require approximately 132 MWh of energy to melt the steel, and a "power-on time" (the time that steel is being melted with an arc) of approximately 37 minutes.
Electric arc steelmaking is only economical where there is plentiful, reliable electricity, with a well-developed electrical grid.  In many locations, mills operate during off-peak hours when utilities have surplus power generating capacity and the price of electricity is less. This compares very favourably with energy consumption of global steel production by all methods estimated at some 5,555 kWh (20 GJ) per tonne (1 gigajoule is equal to approximately 270 kWh).