ArcelorMittal joins Shell, Vattenfall in green hydrogen network

ArcelorMittal has joined Shell, Vattenfall and other cross-industry companies to form the so-called Hamburg Hydrogen Network, Kallanish learns from the company.

To curb its emissions and produce green steel, the steelmaker will rely on the supply of green hydrogen from the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub — initially proposed by Vattenfall, Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Wärme Hamburg. Details on the potential offtake agreement have not been revealed.

ArcelorMittal’s Hamburg plant is planned to be fully converted to climate-neutral steel production in four stages by 2030 as part of its ongoing H2 for Hamburg (H2H) project. The company will build a hydrogen-powered demonstration plant for the direct reduction of iron ore and upgrade the existing direct reduction plant to replace the long-term use of natural gas with green hydrogen.

“In order to ensure the supply of green hydrogen, we rely on the local hydrogen industry network and a significant proportion of hydrogen from the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub,” says Uwe Braun, ceo ArcelorMittal Hamburg.

The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub will run a 100-megawatt electrolyser around 2025. The project is based on the conversion of Vattenfall’s Moorburg coal-fired power plant into a green hydrogen hub, powered by wind energy. It will decarbonise industrial production, as well as the transport and logistics sector around Hamburg.

The 12 companies in the network have applied to EU funding to develop a green hydrogen cluster in Hamburg with a view to decarbonise industrial production, transport and logistics in the area. The application represents nine complementary projects around the Port of Hamburg, one of which is ArcelorMittal’s H2H.

In addition to local hydrogen production, the network is also considering imports via sea and pipelines, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1 million tonnes/year by 2030.

Gabriela Farhangi UK