Tata Steel plans to capture CO2 from its blast furnaces in IJmuiden, Netherlands, and transport it for storage in empty gas fields under the North Sea. The project would lead to a -30% reduction of CO2 from the steelmaking site.
It is part of Tata Steel’s sustainability strategy to become CO2 neutral by 2050. The company is now developing plans to obtain the necessary permits and hopes to launch the project from 2027, Kallanish notes.
The project would consist of two phases. Firstly, a new CO2 capture facility would be built at Tata Steel before the gas is then delivered to the pipeline network, called Athos. Athos is a collaboration between EBN, Gasunie, Port of Amsterdam and Tata Steel, which would manage the transport, reuse and storage of CO2 in the North Sea Canal area.
The capture of CO2 would offer the possibility in the second phase, in collaboration with other industries, to convert the remaining gases into usable raw materials. This could lead to the reduction of 4 million tonnes/year of CO2.
“We see this as the essential solution with which we contribute significantly to the required emission reduction by 2030,” says Annemarie Manger, Tata Steel’s Director of Sustainability, Health, Safety, Environment & Quality. “The potential of this is enormous. This technology is already being used in other countries and industries, but not yet in this form and size.”
“The capture of CO2 in the first phase is expected to result in a reduction of approximately three million tonnes of CO2 per year,” Manger observes. “That is the equivalent of us making 1.5 million tonnes of CO2-free steel every year.”
Tata Steel has awarded McDermott a pre front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the project.
Over the longer-term, Tata Steel believes hydrogen will ultimately play a key role in the transition to sustainable steel production. However, this will not happen until it is available in large quantities and produced using renewable energy sources.
