Salzgitter has selected technology group Andritz to supply one of Europe’s largest green hydrogen plants.
The plant is part of the SALCOS (Salzgitter Low CO2 Steel) programme, which aims to achieve virtually CO2-free steel production. Andritz will build a 100MW electrolysis plant at the site of the steelmaker’s strip unit in Salzgitter. It will involve partner company HydrogenPro, “whose pressurised electrolyser stacks are very well suited for large-scale industrial applications”, says Andritz executive Domenico Iacovelli.
Starting in 2026, the plant will produce around 9,000 tonnes/year of green hydrogen, which will be used to produce green steel. This will mark the start of the industrial utilisation of hydrogen under the SALCOS programme, Salzgitter emphasises.
At MBI Infosource’s Stahltag event this week, Salzgitter Mannesmann Handel chief executive Sebastian Bross gave details on the challenges of the SALCOS project. In spring, Salzgitter was the first EU steel mill to get European Commission approval for funding by the national government, to the tune of €1 billion ($1.1 billion).
An additional €1.3 billion will have to be paid by the company, against many odds, Kallanish heard from Bross at the conference. “We will have to earn that money, defying rising energy costs and international competition,” he said.
In the final phase of its transition, at the end of 2033, Salzgitter plans to have shut down its blast furnaces in favour of direct reduced iron and EAF facilities. “It remains to be seen if it will transpire like that,” Bross noted. “It might well be that we have to hit the ‘recalculate route’ button along the way.”
Christian Koehl Germany
