Global technology leader Hitachi Energy (Zürich, Switzerland) and H2 Green Steel (Stockholm, Sweden) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to leverage electrification, digitalization, and hydrogen to support the decarbonization of the steel industry.
An industrial start-up whose goal is to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry using green hydrogen, H2 Green Steel is on a mission to accelerate the global steel industry’s greatest technological shift by eliminating almost all CO2 emissions from the steel production process. The company plans on building its first fossil-free steel plant in Boden, Sweden, alongside a giga-scale electrolyzer plant for the production of green hydrogen.
The MoU outlines a collaboration built on three pillars:
- Hitachi Energy’s equity investment in H2 Green Steel;
- Products and services from Hitachi Energy that are needed to construct and improve the electrical infrastructure to power steel production and giga-scale electrolyzer plants; and
- Green steel to be used in the manufacturing of Hitachi Energy products, once H2 Green Steel starts production.
Starting with its plant in Boden, H2 Green Steel will leverage Hitachi Energy’s capabilities to optimize customers’ value chain to plan, build, operate, and maintain the power infrastructure that includes IT and operational technology. The Boden plant will use green hydrogen instead of coal in a fully integrated process using end-to-end digitalization, which reduces CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared to traditional steelmaking.
“Achieving carbon neutrality globally requires efforts from all industries to speed up the energy transition through collaborations,” says Johan Söderström, head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Hitachi Energy. “This collaboration with H2 Green Steel is a pioneering example of how we are working together and creating additional benefits for our customers. We are supporting H2 Green Steel’s electrification project and at the same time, we are able to secure green steel for our products, which is in line with our purpose: advancing a sustainable energy future for all.”
“The partnership we have entered into with Hitachi Energy is further reinforced by an equity investment in H2 Green Steel,” says Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Green Steel. “The partners we chose to work with need to share our values, to make a real commitment to live up to the Paris Agreement, and to work tightly together to leverage each other’s strengths. In Hitachi Energy we have that, as well as their long history, broad experience, and innovative offerings.”
Source: Hitachi Energy, www.hitachienergy.com.