Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, Norwegian energy provider Equinor, and Germany’s Open Grid Europe (OGE) have partnered to assess methods of reducing carbon emissions from Thyssenkrupp’s Duisburg, Germany plant.
The team completed its feasibility study for the project that began in October 2019 and refers to it as H2morrow, thyssenkrupp said in a news release.
The study aims to gauge the prospect of supplying the Duisburg facility with blue hydrogen to bring about substantial drops in CO2 emissions and producing climate-neutral steel until hydrogen methods such as green steel, are more accessible with enough volumes to meet demand. The company plans to establish this process by 2027, well in time to comply with the EU’s aggressive climate goals to be met by 2030.
Blue hydrogen may be the best and timeliest option to reach the targets considering the high volumes it entails and backs the aim to create the infrastructure needed for hydrogen pipelines and to build a hydrogen economy.
The steel industry known for its vast use of energy is unable to immediately transfer to green hydrogen without bulk production and import accessibility. However, in the meantime mills can build systems and set up needed pipelines.
The partners located three possible hydrogen production sites: one on Eemshaven’s Dutch coast and the other two on Germany’s North Sea coast. The sites will meet production capacity requirements and offer accessibility, whether pipelines or ships are used for transporting captured CO2 during blue hydrogen production.
The project also requires a completed regulatory framework in Germany and the EU. The team plans to carry on with additional project details, as noted in their report, and develop a foundation for potential commercial investment designations.