Hydrogen in Steel Making Update
Connor Dolan
by Mark Luth
Due to its high energy density and reactivity with iron ore, hydrogen is ideal for use in the manufacture of iron and steel. Steelmaking is an energy-intensive industry, which is hard to decarbonize due to the heat required for the reduction of iron ore in the creation of steel. This process has historically relied on coal for the necessary heat, which releases carbon monoxide and dioxide. Hydrogen offers an alternative to greatly reduce carbon emissions from this process, largely replacing coal for combustion and direct reactions.
A previous “In Transitions” post highlighted the European companies taking early strides to integrate renewable production of hydrogen to create green steel. Today, we will look at where the industry has advanced in this area.
One FCHEA member, Nel Hydrogen, is providing a 20 megawatt hydrogen electrolyzer for a project in Hofors, Sweden, where the company is working with steel manufacturer Ovako and H2 Green Steel, a Swedish startup working on hydrogen-powered steel, to transition an existing facility to use hydrogen for heating in place of coal.
H2 Green Steel is working to bring green steel to the market by 2025 and is currently constructing a new facility in Boden, Sweden. In addition to their initial facility, H2 Green Steel is working with Spanish energy company Iberdrola on a second full-scale facility in Spain. FCHEA member BMW signed an agreement with H2 Green Steel in October 2021 to work together on research and waste steel recycling methods and become the first customer for the fossil-free steel in 2025.
Another FCHEA member, Air Liquide, is working to increase the use of hydrogen in the steel industry by partnering with Danish steel company ArcelorMittal to reduce emissions from the existing steel facility in Dunkirk, France, with Air Liquide providing low-carbon hydrogen that will remove 2.85 million tons of carbon emissions annually by 2030.
The Dunkirk Industrial Basin that will feature low-carbon hydrogen in steel production. (Source: Air Liquide)
Swedish company SSAB, who leads the Hybrit pilot project detailed in our previous post, delivered the world’s first fossil-free steel in August of 2021 to automaker Volvo. This batch of steel was fully reduced with fossil-free hydrogen, marking a crucial milestone in the reduction of emissions for the industry. The Hybrit project is scheduled to leave the pilot phase and enter regular operations in 2026, having received further grants from the European Union in November 2021 to begin the large-scale demonstration phase, producing 1.2 million tonnes of steel annually.
As a counterpart to increasing the use of hydrogen in steelmaking, FCHEA member Anglo American announced a partnership in April 2021 with German steelmaker Salzgitter Flachstahl to research and develop iron feed materials that are more suited to the hydrogen method of steel production.
The production of steel is just one area where hydrogen offers a route to reduce emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industries. As production prices for electrolyzers continue to decline and companies become more familiar with integrating hydrogen in industrial processes, hydrogen’s strengths in reducing carbon emissions will continue to shine.