TOKYO, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Co Ltd (5406.T) said on Wednesday that its U.S. subsidiary Midrex Technologies had signed a contract with Swedish steelmaker H2 Green Steel to provide it with direct Reduced iron (DRI) technology. ) The plant runs on 100% hydrogen.
H2 Green Steel plans to build a fossil-fuel-free steel plant in Sweden, including a hydrogen facility, to produce green steel that reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 95 percent compared to conventional steelmaking using blast furnaces.
Reducing carbon emissions from steelmaking, which accounts for about 7 to 9 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, is a key effort to combat climate change.
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The new plant, which will be supplied by a consortium of Midrex and Luxembourg-based engineering firm Paul Wurth, will be the world’s first commercial DRI plant to use 100 percent hydrogen, Kobe Steel said, adding that production will begin in 2025.
H2 Green Steel said the Midrex plant will have an annual capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of hot direct reduced iron and hot briquetted iron (HBI), which will feed an initial 2.5 million tonnes of green steel production in Boden, northern Sweden.
He added that most of the reductions will occur on Midrex’s technology when iron ore is reduced to sponge iron.
Kobe Steel, Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, also said it had decided to invest in H2 Green Steel and was in talks with the Swedish company about a possible purchase of green HBI.
A Kobe Steel spokesman said investment details had not yet been determined.
Another Swedish green steel company, HYBRIT, started commissioning in 2020 at its fossil-free steel pilot plant in Luleå, Sweden, with the goal of full commercial production in 2026.
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Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Paul Simao
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