Acciaierie d’Italia to decarbonise through hydrogen

Acciaierie d’Italia and gas operator Snam will start joint research to develop certified steel products for the safe transport and storage of hydrogen. So says Snam technical business unit hydrogen head Dina Lanzi in a video presentation of the Taranto steelworks decarbonisation seen by Kallanish.

A memorandum of understanding signed between the two firms will involve progressive decarbonisation of the Taranto’s steelworks, moving from natural gas to renewable gases such as biomethane and green hydrogen. Acciaierie d’Italia and Snam will create synergies on their respective research and development centres to develop a system of production, distribution and storage of hydrogen, Lanzi says.

In Taranto, Snam implemented a hydrogen blending test at 10%. Now the company signals a successful test at 30%, a confirmation that the Taranto plant is ready for hydrogen, The two firms will accelerate R&D, “trying to understand which retrofitting actions will have to be implemented on the existing equipment to increase the hydrogen percentage in the blending”, Lanzi says.

The collaboration will also transform the past temporary hydrogen blending pilot projects into permanent applications, Lanzi concludes. Taranto can support the first hydrogen mass production for industrial applications in Italy, she adds.

The plant’s decarbonisation will be financed in part by funds from the European recovery fund, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR).

Natalia Capra France