The decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry is expected to significantly increase its electricity consumption due to higher levels of electrification and the partial shift to hydrogen as an iron reductant. This study investigates the demand response (DR) potential of two new low-carbon technologies: hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron with electric arc furnace technology (H₂-DRIEAF) and blast furnace basic oxygen furnace technology retrofitted with carbon capture (BF-BOF-CCUS). A cost optimisation approach is applied to plant configurations with varying parameters relevant for flexibility, such as electrolyser and storage sizes, and in the context of future electricity prices. The potential for a H₂-DRIEAF plant is 3–27 times higher than for a BF-BOF-CCUS, with electricity cost savings potentials of 35% and 3%, respectively. The study finds that electricity prices have the most significant impact on the profitability of investing in electrolyser overcapacities, which enable operating costs reduction. Therefore, the profitability of these investments are strongly dependent on future power system configurations. The iron and steel industry emerges as an optimal sector to benefit from DR applications. Almost 20% of steel worldwide and over 40% in the EU today employs electric arc furnaces (EAFs) to process recycled scrap steel. EAFs usually exhibit electricity costs of more than 20% of the overall production costs, bearing strong incentives for DR. In some countries, such as Germany, EAFs are already partially engaged in providing positive reserves capacities in balancing markets through load shedding, despite the high costs of lost load making the probability of an energy call negligible. Re-scheduling production processes to earlier or later times – i.e., load shifting – offers a strategy to offset lost load, which is more favourable than load shedding for balancing purposes. Previous research has investigated the load shifting potential of EAFs through a cost minimisation approach or via process simulation. Furthermore, research has focused on assessing price-based DR through RTP, incentive-based DR or a combination of both. In contrast to EAFs, the integrated route, producing almost 80% of steel worldwide and almost 60% in the EU27, heavily relies on coal and stands out as the most CO₂-emitting alternative for steel production. This technology offers limited DR potential as relatively little electricity is used in the manufacturing processes. However, the carbon-rich work arising from gases (WAGs) produced are often burned in nearby power plants to produce electricity with some degree of dispatchability. In the context of present-day markets and regulations, Feta et al. evaluate the power plant capacity that can be offered to the Dutch balancing market while He et al., Liu et al., and Zhao et al. investigate the extent to which the power plants fed by WAGs can supply peak-shaving and valley-filling services with TOU tariffs in China.The decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry is expected to significantly increase its electricity consumption due to higher levels of electrification and the partial shift to hydrogen as an iron reductant. This study investigates the demand response (DR) potential of two new low-carbon technologies: hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron with electric arc furnace technology (H₂-DRIEAF) and blast furnace basic oxygen furnace technology retrofitted with carbon capture (BF-BOF-CCUS). A cost optimisation approach is applied to plant configurations with varying parameters relevant for flexibility, such as electrolyser and storage sizes, and in the context of future electricity prices. The potential for a H₂-DRIEAF plant is 3–27 times higher than for a BF-BOF-CCUS, with electricity cost savings potentials of 35% and 3%, respectively. The study finds that electricity prices have the most significant impact on the profitability of investing in electrolyser overcapacities, which enable operating costs reduction. Therefore, the profitability of these investments are strongly dependent on future power system configurations. The iron and steel industry emerges as an optimal sector to benefit from DR applications. Almost 20% of steel worldwide and over 40% in the EU today employs electric arc furnaces (EAFs) to process recycled scrap steel. EAFs usually exhibit electricity costs of more than 20% of the overall production costs, bearing strong incentives for DR. In some countries, such as Germany, EAFs are already partially engaged in providing positive reserves capacities in balancing markets through load shedding, despite the high costs of lost load making the probability of an energy call negligible. Re-scheduling production processes to earlier or later times – i.e., load shifting – offers a strategy to offset lost load, which is more favourable than load shedding for balancing purposes. Previous research has investigated the load shifting potential of EAFs through a cost minimisation approach or via process simulation. Furthermore, research has focused on assessing price-based DR through RTP, incentive-based DR or a combination of both. In contrast to EAFs, the integrated route, producing almost 80% of steel worldwide and almost 60% in the EU27, heavily relies on coal and stands out as the most CO₂-emitting alternative for steel production. This technology offers limited DR potential as relatively little electricity is used in the manufacturing processes. However, the carbon-rich work arising from gases (WAGs) produced are often burned in nearby power plants to produce electricity with some degree of dispatchability. In the context of present-day markets and regulations, Feta et al. evaluate the power plant capacity that can be offered to the Dutch balancing market while He et al., Liu et al., and Zhao et al. investigate the extent to which the power plants fed by WAGs can supply peak-shaving and valley-filling services with TOU tariffs in China.