In steelmaking, the Swedish industrial start-up H2 Green Steel eliminates climate-damaging carbon by using green hydrogen in the direct reduction process of iron. For steel production, H2 Green Steel uses green hydrogen produced in the electrolysis plant directly at the Boden plant, where it has a constant supply of renewable (hydro- and wind power) electricity.
This process no longer produces liquid pig iron but a solid iron sponge refined into crude steel in a so-called electric arc furnace. Thyssenkrupp nucera partners with H2 Green Steel in constructing this large-scale green steel plant. The standardized 20 MW electrolysis modules to produce green hydrogen will enable an installed capacity of more than 700 MW. This will also create one of the largest water electrolysis plants in Europe.
High demand
The green hydrogen will power a new, fully integrated, digitalized, and cycle-oriented steel plant in Boden, northern Sweden. Operations are planned to start at the end of 2025, with a scheduled ramp-up in 2026. In the initial phase, the site will produce 2.5 million tons of green steel and, by 2030, is planned to have increased to around 5 million tons. Green steel products are already in exceptionally high demand from the automotive industry, which will thus be able to reduce its carbon footprint so decisively.
The alkaline water electrolysis technology used to produce green hydrogen for the direct reduction of iron enables H2 Green Steel to reduce carbon emissions by up to 95% compared with conventional steelmaking, thus almost zero.
“The electrolysis plant in Boden will be many times bigger than most existing electrolyzer plants today,” says Maria Persson Gulda, Chief Technology Officer of H2 Green Steel. “Combining our own strong technical expertise with that of a proven high-performance and high-efficiency electrolyzer like thyssenkrupp nucera’s gives us a solid head start in the growing green hydrogen economy, which we will use to transform the heavy industry with its difficult-to-degrade process emissions. We’re starting with steel in Boden, Sweden, but that’s just the beginning.”
Combat climate change
H2 Green Steel aims to help offset manufactured emissions and combat climate change. To do so, it wants to drive the necessary decarbonization quickly. That’s why the industrial start-up focuses on areas where the most impact can be made, i.e., hard-to-abate industries.
“H2 Green Steel has made an important statement,” says Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA. “The company is consistently driving forward decarbonization in the steel industry, urgently needed to prevent climate change at the necessary high pace. In this way, the industry can make a decisive contribution to climate change. We look forward to this cooperation.”
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