EWE and ArcelorMittal cooperate in green steel production

The energy company EWE and its subsidiary swb and the steel constructor ArcelorMittal signed a letter of intent for cooperation on Monday. The agreement focuses on green hydrogen production in Bremen. In the first stage, an electrolysis plant with a capacity of up to 24 megawatts is to be built at the Mittelsbüren power plant site, which will supply ArcelorMittal's steelworks with green hydrogen.

The project not only contributes to the National Hydrogen Strategy adopted in June, which aims to make green hydrogen marketable. The project called "HyBit - Hydrogen for Bremen's industrial transformation" also follows the European Hydrogen Strategy presented last week by the European Commission. This strategy focuses primarily on the decarbonization of major industries.

Dr. Urban Keussen, Chief Technology Officer of EWE AG: "With 'HyBit' we are even giving the subject of hydrogen a decisive turn towards Europe. After all, the production of renewable energies and hydrogen and the conversion and development of network and storage infrastructures in all countries bordering the North and Baltic Seas urgently require joint cross-border efforts. We are thus initiating a European network of hydrogen hubs from the northwest of Germany. Incidentally, we have the best conditions for this: On- and offshore wind, a maritime economic structure and ports for hydrogen imports, a well-developed gas infrastructure with cavern storage facilities and an energy-intensive steel industry.

Dr. Torsten Köhne, CEO of swb AG: "Through our new partnership, we want to initially support ArcelorMittal and perspectively Bremen as well as the entire Northwest in the decarbonisation process. What is important is that we now quickly start and test this large-scale application for the first time in order to become marketable in the next step. To do this, we need to promote the electrolyser and provide ArcelorMittal with an operating subsidy. Thanks to the many years of experience in the joint company INGAVER, we have an extremely good basis for the development of future technical implementations and business processes in connection with hydrogen.

Dirk Francis, Member of the Management Board, Technology Primary, ArcelorMittal Bremen: "ArcelorMittal aims to achieve CO2-neutral steel production in Europe by 2050, with emissions already reduced by 30 percent by 2030. Achieving these targets is based on the use of new technologies that we are developing. The use of green hydrogen plays an important role in the Group's strategy; it helps reduce the use of carbon in the pig iron production process. For our site in Bremen, the construction of the electrolysis plant is a milestone on the way to achieving this goal. In this way we are creating the conditions for a further significant reduction in CO2 emissions in the production of steel. Large quantities of hydrogen and ideally green hydrogen - produced from renewable energies - are needed to produce steel. We welcome the H2 strategy of the German government and very much hope that the necessary hydrogen infrastructure can be developed quickly so that we can use sufficient quantities. We also need competitive prices for hydrogen. The current cost of hydrogen is far too high and makes H2-based steel production not yet possible".

Source and Photo: AreclorMittal