(Melbourne / Australia) – The Australian steel manufacturer Blue Scope Steel Ltd. and Shell Energy Operations Pty Ltd are jointly planning renewable hydrogen projects at the Blue Scope Port Kembla steelworks in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The first pilot project includes the development, construction and operation of a 10 megawatt electrolyser to test the use of green hydrogen in the blast furnace for low-emission steel production. The energy source could also be used to feed a pilot plant for direct reduced iron (DRI).
Developing a hydrogen hub in the Illawarra
Blue Scope and Shell also want to work with other organizations to develop Illawarra into a hydrogen hub. Options for hydrogen supply and purchase, the supply of renewable energies as well as the hydrogen and electricity infrastructure are being examined. The logistical infrastructure required for a commercially viable hydrogen supply chain in the region will also be examined, the companies said.
The Illawarra's diversity of sectors - industry, energy, transport infrastructure, minerals and mining - combined with research and academic partnerships provides "good conditions for further collaborations to develop hydrogen technology and support decarbonisation efforts in the region". Any potential hydrogen center in the Illawarra would need “broad support from governments, regulators, customers and suppliers,” Blue Scope chief executive Mark Vassella said.
Blue Scope also cooperates with Rio Tinto
In October, Blue Scope and British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto agreed to explore ways to produce low-carbon steel using iron ores from the Pilbara region. This includes the use of clean hydrogen to replace coking coal in Port Kembla. Rio Tinto Iron Ore Plc managing director Simon Trott says Blue Scope is one of its key customers in Australia. In the first phase of the collaboration, the volume of a pilot plant will be determined, which will consist of an electrolyzer, a direct reduction plant and a melting plant.
Rio Tinto, one of the world's three largest mining companies, previously told an investor conference that it was focused on exploring three potential routes to neutral steelmaking: using sustainable biomass with Pilbara iron ore to replace coking coal in the iron and steelmaking process, the use of hydrogen-based hot briquetted iron (HBI) with high-quality ores in Canada - where Rio Tinto also operates - and the use of hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) with a smelter for Pilbara ores.
The Pilbara region in the state of Western Australia, covering around 500.000 square kilometers, is Rio Tinto's most important ore mining area. It consists of a network of 16 mines, four port terminals and a 1.700 kilometer long rail network along with other infrastructure. The group wants to reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 percent by 50 and invest 7,5 billion US dollars.
Port Kembla is also interesting for others
It's not just Blue Scope, Shell and Rio Tinto that have big plans for Port Kembla. In August, the government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) approved a planned power plant by Squadron Energy Pty Ltd Port Kembla guaranteed support. The 635 megawatt project is being developed by Australian Industrial Power (AIP), part of the Squadron group, as a “dual-fuel” facility and runs on both natural gas and green hydrogen. Investments amount to 1,3 billion Australian dollars (0,8 billion euros).
Completion is scheduled for 2030. The power plant will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy and will supply households and small businesses with electricity. Squadron is owned by Tattarang Pty Ltd. This investment company, in turn, belongs to the empire of mining magnate Andrew Forrest, founder of the Fortescue Metals Group, who is planning solar and wind farms worldwide in the three-digit gigawatt range.
deep link
https://www.bluescope.com/bluescope-news/2021/12/bluescope-and-shell-sign-mou/
Photos
Blue Scope steelworks in Port Kembla, Australia. © Wikimedia / Maksym Kozlenko (CC BY-SA 4.0)
