The Finnish-headquartered industrial firm said the plant, based on its Circored technology, can continuously pre-reduce iron using hydrogen as the sole reducing agent.
Pre-reduction partially removes oxygen from iron ore. This stops the process at an intermediate oxide stage before final smelting or reduction.
In Metso’s Circored process, iron ore fines are fluidised, then exposed to high-temperature hydrogen gas to strip away oxygen.
The plant integrates pre-heating, reduction, gas cleaning, and hydrogen/dust recirculation systems. Electric heaters are also used in the process. In the future, the system could be linked with Metso’s DRI smelting furnace to support cleaner steelmaking.
The pilot plant will test different iron ores to generate process data to help design future commercial plants and define operating windows for varying ore qualities.
“This pilot plant is a significant step in demonstrating the readiness of the Circored technology,” said Metso DRI Director Parizat Pandey. “It allows us to validate process parameters and support our customers in their transition to low-carbon steelmaking.”
Green hydrogen-based DRI is viewed as one of the key ways to eliminate vast amounts of CO2 emissions from steelmaking.
Despite this, several steelmakers that had backed the pathway have delayed and cancelled projects due to high costs, slow hydrogen rollout, weak policy support, and competitiveness concerns.
Earlier this year, Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez warned the firm’s €3bn hydrogen steel plant in Duisburg risked becoming a stranded asset unless it can secure supplies of green hydrogen.
Can hydrogen still deliver European green steel?
Steelmaking had emerged as the poster child for clean hydrogen. But in 2025, its future looks just as uncertain as many other applications.
With the sector accounting for around 11% of global CO2 emissions, and high heat underpinning its production processes, hydrogen has been positioned as the clean molecule that could fulfil the sector’s decarbonisation needs.
From the Nordic Hybrit consortium of SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall, to Tata Steel, Nippon Steel, and Posco, companies have tabled hydrogen as a key pillar of their decarbonisation strategies.
But in true mid-20s hydrogen fashion, steelmakers have been reassessing their plans, with many writing off the energy carrier’s use until the 2030s…
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